Construction begins Monday,
May 3, on a rainwater control project in San Bruno, Calif., the first step in a
grade-separation project that will result in dramatic safety improvements at a
key series of intersections in that community. Caltrain will build a new
underground box culvert to divert water away from the area during the
construction and help reduce flooding in the neighborhood east of the railroad
tracks.
CSX Transportation, citing
safety concerns, has told the New York Department of Transportation that
passenger trains traveling faster than 90 mph would have to do so in a separate
corridor located at least 30 feet away from the nearest freight track, the
Albany Times Union reports.
As the 2010 construction
season gets under way, Amtrak is embarking on $1-billion construction program
to fund capital projects designed to rebuild, upgrade and modernize its tracks,
bridges, stations and other critical infrastructure along the busy Northeast
Corridor and across the country, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and
the Miami area.
Southern California
officials have one week to come to agreement on the public benefits of a
planned railroad overpass in Colton, or risk losing $125 million for the Inland
area, The Press-Enterprise reports. To quell concerns from coastal counties,
San Bernardino County officials have offered to pull their request for state
bond money for a massive interchange overhaul proposed near Devore. Officials
said they will find money elsewhere to reconfigure the Interstate 215 and Interstate
15 convergence.
On April 22, the Sound
Transit Board in Metropolitan Seattle updated the preferred alternative for the
East Link light rail project. The preferred alternative was modified to include
a shorter and lower-cost tunnel option in downtown Bellevue, Wash., as well as
a revised at-grade alternative through downtown. Inclusion of the tunnel was
facilitated by the City of Bellevue agreeing to provide up to a $150-million
contribution.
A proposal to greatly
accelerate construction of a dozen transit projects and expedite highway improvement
projects in Los Angeles County was approved by the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority Board of Directors. The 30/10 initiative, first proposed by Los
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, would seek federal assistance to build
within the next decade a series of light rail, subway and rapid bus projects
throughout Los Angeles County. The Board also voted to explore federal funding
or public private partnerships to expedite local highway improvements.
Norfolk Southern is on
track to break ground later this year for its new intermodal facility in
Greencastle, Pa., a company official told members of the Greencastle-Antrim
Chamber of Commerce, local media report.
Preliminary engineering
for surface improvements to Tower 55 will begin soon following an April 8 vote
to fund the project by the Regional Transportation Council, the Ft. Worth Business
Press reports. The at-grade surface improvements for the congested Tower 55 rail
yard, widely considered to be the most congested rail yard in the United
States, are expected to cost about $95 million. The yard sits at the southwest
corner of the intersection of interstates 35-W and 30.
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood said that the Federal Transit Administration will make a
further "down payment" toward an eventual commitment of $3 billion by approving
a $765-million Early Systems Work Agreement amendment to continue and expand
work on the Access to the Region’s Core rail project, which will carry the rail
line under the Hudson River. The agreement includes $385 million in federal
funds matched by $380 million in local funding.
An unexpected about-face on
the route to be used for new Chicago-Dubuque Amtrak train service leaves Genoa-
and South Elgin-area leaders feeling bewildered, the Elgin Courier-News reports.
But the decision makes it more likely that a new Metra commuter service could
be set up in coming years from Elgin through Gilberts and Huntley to Belvidere
and Rockford.
Utah Transit Authority and
Salt Lake City will close a segment of North Temple Street starting April 18
for an 18-month rebuild of the North Temple viaduct. The viaduct, which crosses
Union Pacific and UTA railroad tracks between 600 West and 300 West, will be
demolished and rebuilt as part of the Airport TRAX light rail project.
One of the worst rail
bottlenecks on the east coast is Washington’s Virginia Avenue Tunnel, Greater
Greater Washington reports. While the tunnel originally carried two tracks, it
was narrowed to one to allow taller and wider freight cars. With growing
freight rail traffic across the United States, the century-old tunnel is in
dire need of replacement.
Construction on the
Belmont Road underpass in Downers Grove, Ill., will resume in June with a
two-week closure of the street, according to the Downers Grove Reporter.
Engineering firm Stantec is
designing a new signaling system for a portion of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit
(DART) system in Dallas, Texas. The new system is part of the construction of
the new Lake Highland station along the light rail’s Blue Line between downtown
Dallas and Garland.
When some of Amtrak’s
taller, double-decker trains pass underneath the 1917 railroad overpass on
Courthouse Road in Fredericksburg, Va., the clearance is extremely tight, the
Fredricksburg Free Lance-Star reports The distance between the train and the
bridge can be measured in inches, said Rob Shackelford, Virginia Department of
Transportation area construction engineer.
The formidable Cooper
Tunnel on the Norfolk Southern main line in Mercer County, W. Va., is now open
for larger loads, opening another key impediment to the railway’s ambitious
Heartland Corridor project, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports.
An 11th-hour
clarification in when federal officials need an approved agreement on the
Colton , Calif., Crossing railroad overpass has given local and train industry
officials four more weeks to work out the details, The Press-Enterprise
reports.
As construction season
begins, crews from the Vermont Rail System are looking to begin projects to
improve the safety of the New York & Ogdensburg Railroad, the Watertown
Daily Times reports. According to Vermont Rail Vice President Jerome M. Hebda,
crews should pick up where they left off last fall in replacing about a mile of
80-pound rail on New York and Ogdensburg Railway line with 100-pound rail
between Lisbon and Ogdensburg, N.Y. The project is expected to cost about
$125,000.
Efforts to save a $202-million
railroad overpass in Colton, Calif., are on track, but an agreement between two
railroads and local officials faces a high bar when a state commission will
decide if the agreement shows the public will benefit enough, The
Press-Enterprise reports.
Lake Zurich, Ill.,
officials have formalized the land exchange with Canadian National Railway as
part of plans to build a 270-foot communications tower, the Daily Herald
reports. Construction is under way on the tower, which will be used to monitor
rail traffic. The negotiations were to replace the original tower site near
downtown.
