Pennsylvania Bearish On Moving Forward With Rail Projects
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Wikipedia
HARRISBURG, Pa. –– Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll has expressed doubts about the wisdom of moving forward with state transportation projects funded with federal grants.
The Pennsylvania Capital-Star has reported that Pennsylvania DOT Secretary Mike Carroll is wary about moving forward with rail projects that are dependent on federal grants given the current freeze on funds for infrastructure projects.
Carroll, who made his remarks at a state House budget hearing this week, said “Funds that were discretionary awards, that haven’t been obligated, are sort of in question right now. It doesn’t mean they’re lost. They’ve been paused, and we would hesitate to go forward with the use of those funds absent an obligation.”
Carroll referenced three specific projects in his remarks. One is the rebuilding of the John Harris Memorial Bridge in Harrisburg’s south span. The Capital-Star reports that the bridge “is 65 years old and has reached the end of its useful life.” The federal award for the bridge work is $500 million and is part of $5 billion in grant money to repair major bridges around the country.
The second project involves an FRA grant of $144 million for track capacity increases on Norfolk Southern’s line to allow a second daily Amtrak Pennsylvanian train. The third project, which has yet to receive any funding commitments from the Federal Government, would provide passenger service from Reading to Philadelphia.
Carroll said ““It would be a fool’s errand for me to try and predict future steps from the FRA or any of our other federal partners when it comes to how they intend to orchestrate the delivery of these projects.” He added that he remains optimistic that federal partners will continue to support the funding of these projects.
