The next phase of DART Rail
will be the return of rail service to Deep Ellum, Baylor, Fair Park and South
Dallas after an absence of more than 50 years and will bring new opportunities
for development and offer new destinations to thousands of new passengers when
the first four stations of the 20-station, 28-mile Dallas Area Rapid Transit
(DART) Green Line open on September 14.
A
promise to fund an additional station,
approval of a budget of up to $941 million and award of a contract to
start public utility relocation in downtown St. Paul capped a banner month for
the Central Corridor LRT Project.
Alabama State Port
Authority officials plan to meet this week with Norfolk Southern senior
executives to discuss linking the railroad’s proposed $112-million intermodal
facility in McCalla, Ala., to the newly opened $300 million container terminal
in Mobile, according to the Birmingham Business Journal.
ConnectUs, Inc., said
that it and its coalition of business, labor and environmental groups had sent
letters of support and endorsement to U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood in
support of Florida’s application seeking $30 million for the Preliminary
Engineering and NEPA Environmental studies for the Orlando-Miami corridor.
Members of Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 1555 voted to approve the four-year tentative agreement
that their leaders and BART negotiators reached on August 16.
New Jersey has applied for
federal funding to replace the 100-year-old, two-track bridge that carries
Northeast Corridor trains over the Hackensack River in the Meadowlands, the Philadelphia
Inquirer reports. Nearly 500 Amtrak and NJ Transit trains now use the swing
span, known as the Portal Bridge.
Virginia has submitted
its first high speed rail application for the Arkendale to Powell’s Creek
project along the I-95 High Speed Rail Corridor, local media report. The project,
with a construction cost of $74.8 million, would build 11.4 miles of third
track in Stafford and Prince William Counties.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted 42
applications for $1.1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding
available through the federal High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program,
under which states compete for $8 billion in funding designated for intercity
and high speed rail. Federal applications for Track 1, 3 and 4 require focus on
improvements to existing passenger rail services for job creation purposes. In
adherence to these federal requirements, California’s Track 1, 3 and 4
applications focus on improvements to existing passenger rail lines, including
the integration of high-speed rail with intercity passenger service. The
federal government’s Track 2 application focuses on high-speed rail and is due
on October 2, 2009.
The first state
applications for "shovel-ready" passenger rail projects are due into the
Federal Railroad Administration on Aug. 24, and FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo
thinks some of the federal grants to follow will need to help freight lines get
ready for more and faster passenger trains, reports The Journal of Commerce.
The Los Angeles Metro Gold Line Foothill
Extension Construction Authority will host a workshop Sept. 15 to inform small
businesses about the more than $600 million in contracting opportunities
available during construction of the light-rail transit line from Pasadena to
Azusa. Presentations by Construction Authority Chief Executive Officer Habib
Balian and others will include information about the project, as well as the
opportunities for small businesses and a procurement schedule.
A guide for downtown growth
through 2020 that calls for $15.6 billion in public works was endorsed by the
Chicago Plan Commission, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Chicago Central
Area Action Plan would allocate most of the spending for transportation
projects. The most expensive would be a $6-billion West Loop transit hub
beneath Clinton Street with a multilevel connection between Metra and CTA
service.
Joined by local elected
officials from Los Angeles County and nearby cities, Los Angeles City Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa said the completion of exploratory drilling in West Los
Angeles is a key part of the planning and environmental process for the
proposed Westside Subway Extension, a regionally beneficial Measure R
transportation project.
Peter Burling, chairman of
the Rail Transit Authority in New Hampshire, envisions a rail line running
between Boston and Concord, N.H., at speeds of up to 90 mph, the Concord
Monitor reports. The rail would carry Massachusetts shoppers to Nashua and
travelers to Manchester Airport. It would take sports fans to Celtics games and
workers to their jobs in Boston.
Repair work to remove
debris and any remaining loose brick from the architectural façade of the
ceiling at the 181st Street station is proceeding around the clock, but more
work needs to be completed before 1 train service can resume between the 168th
Street and Dyckman Street stations.
The Federal Transit
Administration gave METRO permission today to enter into Final Design on
Houston’s North and Southeast light-rail lines. The FTA’s approval is the final
prerequisite toward entering Full Funding Grant Agreements on both lines, which
signals the federal government’s commitment to fund its part of the projects.
The Illinois
Commerce Commission’s Railroad Safety Section has issued a Request for Grant
Proposals for local railroad safety education and enforcement programs. The ICC
recently received a grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to continue
working with local communities and railroads in Illinois to implement railroad
safety education or enforcement programs.
Commuters on the Virginia
Railway Express Fredericksburg Line can see that construction has begun on
laying a third track over Franconia Hill, according to Fredericksburg.com. As
hills go, it’s not terribly high: 225 feet above sea level. Franconia Road is
near the crest of the hill in Fairfax County, and the Capital Beltway passes
along the side of the hill a mile farther north.
Southwest Washington’s
three-member congressional delegation gathered at the Port of Vancouver to
celebrate the opening of a new marine terminal on the former Alcoa-Evergreen
aluminum site, The Columbian reported. Alcoa this spring finished environmental
cleanup of the 218-acre site, making way for the port to complete its purchase
of the two properties in March for a total of $48.25 million. The port is now
ready to develop the site, zoned for heavy industrial use.
The Montreal, Maine &
Atlantic Railway said that it is taking steps to sell or abandon its tracks
between Millinocket and Madawaska, Maine, because they are no longer profitable
to maintain, according to the Bangor Daily News. The company is asking the
state to consider buying the tracks and maintaining them. If that were to
happen, the Maine Department of Transportation and the railway could work out a
deal so the company’s trains would use the rail lines without an interruption
in service.
Major U.S. freight
railroads and their advocates have argued for years that government investment
is needed in the country’s rail system to take freight off congested highways
and keep the economy moving, Reuters reports. But supporters say rail
investments have been largely ignored by Congress, suggesting political support
is lacking, despite warnings action must be taken sooner rather than later.
