CN has reached a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with
the Village of Ford Heights, Ill., located approximately 26 miles south of
downtown Chicago, regarding its acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern
Railway Company. With this agreement, CN has VMAs with 25 of the 33 communities
along the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana.
November 5-7, Washington,
D.C., Metro will undertake a major project on the Blue and Orange lines that
will impact rail service east of the Stadium-Armory Metrorail station and
conduct additional maintenance on the Blue and Yellow lines in Northern
Virginia. Rail riders traveling on these lines are advised to add an additional
40 minutes to their travel plans because some stations will be closed and
single-tracking operations will be in place elsewhere.
Los Angeles County
this week began a nearly half-million-dollar project aimed at preventing
earthquake damage to a railway bridge in Glendora, Calif., officials said, according
to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
Work will continue on the
new pedestrian underpass at the Santa Clara station. The underpass will connect
the north- and southbound platforms, allowing two trains to pass through the
station at the same time and improving safety for pedestrians in the station. Passengers
at the station are boarding the train from a temporary platform. Passengers are
asked to observe all posted signs and follow direction from identified
ambassadors in the station. The temporary platform will be in use for
approximately six months.
The Gary/Chicago
International Airport on reached a pivotal deal for its runway extension
project, the Gary Post-Tribune reports. The agreement with Canadian National
Railway allows the Gary airport to proceed with the removal of CN’s embankment
at the end of the runway — one of the biggest undertakings of the project. The
Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority approved the deal Oct. 28, with CN
expected to sign on within 10 days.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
said $32 million from the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program will go to
construct a multi-modal transportation station in downtown Joliet. The new
transportation center is expected to create 650 jobs, laying the groundwork for
future transit-oriented development in downtown Joliet.
Parsons is pleased to
announce that the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, the governing
board of Metrolink, recently awarded Parsons a $120-million contract to design,
procure, and install Positive Train Control technology on Metrolink’s 512-mile
regional commuter rail system.
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced a $64 million investment from Illinois Jobs Now! to build a grade separation in Bensenville, a key component of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program. The project will improve regional transportation by separating Irving Park Road from the Canadian Pacific Railroad east of York Road and will support more than 830 jobs.
"As North America’s largest inland port, Illinois must make investments to move passengers and freight more quickly through our region," said Governor Quinn. "A world-class transportation system will not only keep jobs in Chicago, but attract new manufacturers who aim to reach the global marketplace more quickly."
The grade separation will reduce roadway congestion and improve safety along Irving Park Road (IL-19), a primary arterial road. The improvements include reconstructing the intersection by lowering Irving Park Road and raising the Canadian Pacific Railroad Bridge. Every day 37,000 vehicles pass through the Bensenville crossing, which includes 25 freight trains. Nearly 6,400 vehicles are delayed at this location every day, leading to 1,500 daily motorist hours of delay that would be alleviated through this project.
This grade separation is located at the southwestern edge of O’Hare Airport, and is being coordinated with construction of the adjacent grade separation of the Union Pacific Railroad over Irving Park Road, as part of the O’Hare Modernization Program. Construction is anticipated to begin in the spring and will be completed in the fall of 2013.
"In Bensenville, we have planes, trains and automobiles, and we must make sure all three modes operate as efficiently and safely as possible," said Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Secretary Gary Hannig. "These improvements will address regional growth and transportation demand, improve traffic safety and promote economic development."
A fast-growing Northern
Indiana steelmaker has begun making railroad beams three times longer than normal,
the Indianapolis Star reports. The longer rails require fewer welds at
installation and foster quicker safety inspections, both in an effort to cut
expenses and increase railroad durability for the nation’s train industry.
Work will continue this
week on the new pedestrian underpass at the Caltrain station in Santa Clara,
Calif. The underpass will connect the north- and southbound platforms, allowing
two trains to pass through the station at the same time and improving safety
for pedestrians in the station.
Forty-two capital
construction projects and 33 planning projects in 40 states will share nearly
$600 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s popular TIGER II
program for major infrastructure projects ranging from highways and bridges to
transit, rail and ports, Secretary Ray LaHood said Oct. 20.
Metro in the Washington,
D.C., area will close the eastern end of the Orange Line between the
Stadium-Armory and New Carrollton Metrorail stations and there will be no Blue
Line service between the Stadium-Armory and Benning Road Metrorail stations
from 10 p.m., Friday, Nov. 5, to closing on Sunday, Nov, 7, as the agency
undertakes a major rehabilitation and rebuilding project to improve safety,
comply with a safety recommendation made by the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB), maintain service reliability and return the area to a state of
good repair.
Carmanah Technologies
Corporation, Canadian manufacturer of self-contained solar LED Lighting systems
for marine, aviation, traffic and off-grid lighting applications worldwide
today announced a strategic partnership with Trojan Battery Company, the world’s
leading manufacturer of deep-cycle batteries. Under the agreement, Carmanah
will use Trojan’s deep-cycle batteries to provide energy storage for its EverGENTM
portfolio of outdoor solar LED lights.
Connecticut’s recently
convened contract watchdog board has ordered the state DOT to explain the cost
efficiency of its long-running practice of hiring private engineers to inspect
state rail and highway bridges, the Stamford Advocate reports. The six-member
State Contracting Standards Board voted to require the Department of
Transportation to determine if it could complete the work more cheaply by
expanding the ranks of in-house inspectors to tackle inspections of rail and
highway bridges that private firms are usually hired for, said Gale Mattison,
the chairman of the standards board.
After years of fits and
starts, the U.S. Transportation Department awarded Fort Worth, Texas, a $34
million grant Friday to upgrade the Tower 55 rail intersection near downtown,
the Star Telegram reports. Tower 55 is one of the most congested rail
intersections in the country. Fort Worth officials had been pushing for years
to secure the funding to construct a new north-south rail line there.
A transportation project
that has been planned for more than a decade and that will ease congestion and
delays at a busy Manassas, Va., intersection is under way, the Washington Post reports.
With almost $20 million in federal stimulus funding, the Wellington Road and
Route 28 overpass project has started, city officials said at the Oct. 18
Manassas City Council meeting. The project has been in the city’s capital
improvement program since 1998 but has been stalled because of a lack of
funding, City Manager Lawrence D. Hughes said.
Work will continue on the
new pedestrian underpass at the Santa Clara, Calif., station. The underpass
will connect the north- and southbound platforms, allowing two trains to pass
through the station at the same time and improving safety for pedestrians in
the station.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is planning to rehabilitate escalators and elevators, repair crumbling platforms, upgrade station air conditioning and install new directional signs among other enhancements to its Blue and Orange lines.
The Metro Board Finance and Administration committee endorsed awarding a six-year, $272.7 million comprehensive infrastructure and rehabilitation contract designed to improve customer service, service reliability and maintain a state of good repair. The full Board of Directors will vote on the proposal on Oct. 28.
The rehabilitation program would encompass 27 miles of track and 23 Metrorail stations along the Blue and Orange lines between the New Carrollton and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Metrorail stations. The design work would start next month with the physical work beginning in late 2011.
This long-term project is the second major maintenance contract focused on upgrading the Metrorail system. The first was awarded last year for work on the Red Line. Currently, under the four-year, $177 million Red Line program, personnel are repairing the crumbling platforms at the Rockville Metrorail station and making station improvements between the Judiciary Square and Rhode Island Ave-Brentwood Metrorail stations, which includes rehabilitating elevators and escalators at Union Station and Judiciary Square Metrorail stations.
Under the Blue and Orange contract, Metro will make the following improvements:
Safety Enhancements
• Replace tunnel safety lights to enhance customer and employee safety.
• Rehabilitate tunnel ventilation and exhaust fans used in the event of a smoke incident in a rail station or tunnel.
• Upgrade and replace emergency telephone system to enhance safety.
Customer Experience
• Rehabilitate or replace 22 elevators and 103 escalators between the Stadium-Armory and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Metrorail stations
• Reconstruct crumbing platforms at the Minnesota Ave and Deanwood Metrorail stations to improve customer service.
• Upgrade station air conditioning (chiller units) at the Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory Metrorail stations
• Install ADA bumpy tiles at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington Cemetery, Eastern Market, Potomac Avenue, Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue Metrorail stations for blind or vision impaired.
• Upgrade and enlarge station manager kiosks to be equipped with a new public address system and new monitors at 18 stations that will enable station managers to provide improved service to riders.
• Rehabilitate station restrooms used by customers and employees.
Infrastructure Upgrades
• Repair the rail bridge at the Deanwood Metrorail station.
• Repair 83,700 feet of tunnels including water leaks and cracks.
• Install new cross ties on the rail tracks.
• Upgrade traction power and train control systems.
• Repair station domes and acoustical walls.
• Replace and upgrade drainage pumping stations.
Canadian National has reached a voluntary mitigation with the Village of Sauk Village, Ill., located approximately 30 miles south of Chicago, addressing the municipality’s environmental and safety concerns with CN’s acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E). With this agreement, CN has VMAs with 24 of the 33 communities situated on the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana.
CN, which completed its purchase of the EJ&E on Jan. 31, 2009, will provide funding for various measures in Sauk Village, including the creation of a quiet zone, noise mitigation, and emergency response training and communication.
CN is also working closely with communities on the EJ&E that do not have agreements with CN to ensure implementation of safety and environmental conditions in accordance with the requirements of the Surface Transportation Board.
Integration of the CN and EJ&E networks is well underway, and, as contemplated in the original plan, the company continues to expect it will be completed within three years of its acquisition of control.
It won’t include an
overpass, but New Albany, Ind., is aspiring to begin improving a portion of
Grant Line Road next year, The Evening News and Tribune reports. The Board of
Public Works and Safety approved a formal agreement with CSX Transportation,
which owns the railroad tracks that cross Grant Line Road near the General
Mills-Pillsbury plant entrance.
The deal basically confirms
that CSXT can begin forming design plans to improve the railroad crossing, with
the city agreeing to pay the planning and construction costs. Due to safety
concerns, CSXT rules that "no one can touch their facilities" except their
crews, said John Rosenbarger, director of public facilities projects for New
Albany.
The standard agreement "gives
[CSXT] the green light to do whatever engineering work they need to do and to
coordinate with our road engineers," Rosenbarger said.
Improving the railroad
crossing surface and installing new gates and flashers are just some of the
upgrades slated for Grant Line Road. The city will be using a portion of the
$6.125 million it received from the state for taking over 4.5 miles of Ind. 111
in April to foot construction projects from Mount Tabor Road to McDonald Lane
along Grant Line Road. Rosenbarger said that will include adding a lane near
University Woods Drive along with the installation of sidewalks and pedways
along the route.
An August preliminary
design submitted to the board of works called for Grant Line Road to be
stretched to five lanes from Mount Tabor Road inbound to the railroad tracks. The
Indiana Department of Transportation had pegged Grant Line Road for a similar
project until it relinquished control of a portion of the thoroughfare to New
Albany.
The state had originally
planned a 120-foot overpass to extend over the railroad tracks, but had
scrapped that idea prior to transferring the road to the city’s domain.
Mayor Doug England said in
a phone interview he wasn’t supportive of the state’s overpass idea, describing
it as a "monstrous project for the community."
"I think the overpass would
have been horrendous with the businesses it would have knocked out," he said.
The city will have access
to the right-of-way the state purchased for improvements along the route,
England said. Rosenbarger said additional property will likely have to be
purchased, but the city’s project will not have the impact on businesses the
overpass would have created.
England said the
construction would hopefully alleviate some of the traffic flow problems in
that section of Grant Line Road. The city is also working on extending Reas
Lane to connect its industrial parks in the corridor as a way to keep much of
the heavy truck traffic off of the busy thoroughfare.
Rosenbarger said the city
hopes to have design completed by the end of 2010 or early next year, with work
to begin next construction season.
