Wisconsin awards $37 million to freight rail projects

WSOR received four grant and loan awards from WisDOT.

WisDOT

Six Wisconsin freight rail projects were awarded $37 million in grants and loans from the state's Freight Railroad Assistance Program.

The goal of the program is to increase the use of rail transportation and support economic development and job creation. A mixture of port, shortline and industrial rail projects will advance because of the state funding.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is distributing $29.6 million in grants through the Freight Railroad Preservation Program (FRPP), which cover up to 80 percent of project costs to help preserve freight rail service or rehabilitate track on publicly-owned rail lines. In addition, WisDOT is providing loans worth $7.4 million through the state’s Freight Railroad Infrastructure Improvement Program (FRIIP). FRIIP is a revolving loan program used to improve rail infrastructure and construct new rail-served facilities.

The Port of Milwaukee will receive a $1.7 million grant to rehabilitate and reconstruct 15 road crossings within the port. Track within the road crossings has deteriorated and no longer meets the standards of railroads that operate within the port property. The grant will cover 80 percent of the total $2.2 million cost of the improvements. The project will include replacing the road crossing surfaces and 3,340 linear feet of new 115-pound rail. The port will provide $440,880 in local matching funds.

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (WSOR) received four awards, $27.77 million in FRPP grants and $3.48 million in FRIIP loans to replace or rehabilitate 10 bridges and execute two track rehabilitation projects. An FRPP grant worth $14.4 million will cover 80 percent of the design, engineering and rehabilitation costs of the Merrimac Bridge rehabilitation project. An FRIIP loan of up to $1.8 million also will be provided to WSOR covering 10 percent of the $18 million total project cost. WSOR and the Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission (WRRTC) will provide the remaining 10 percent ($1.8 million). The bridge crosses Lake Wisconsin at Merrimac, straddling Sauk and Columbia counties. Engineering studies have identified this project as necessary to keep the Madison–Reedsburg rail line operational for 286,000-pound carloads.

WSOR will be able to replace and rehabilitate nine bridges on the Reedsburg and Prairie Subdivision with a $1.9 million FRPP grant to cover 80 percent of the $2.5 million total project cost. WSOR will provide the 20 percent matching funds, half of which will be financed with a FRIIP loan of $246,470.

A $7.5 million FRPP grant and a $942,700 FRIIP loan will be used for the Fox Lake Subdivision — Phase 2 Rail Replacement project. The project will rehabilitate 12.9 miles of track between Walworth and Zenda (up to the Illinois state line). WSOR will provide $942,700 of matching funds towards total project costs of $9,427,000. This will complete a multi-year project to rehabilitate 21.5 miles of track on the Fox Lake Subdivision in Rock and Walworth counties. It includes reconstructing two public crossings, 16 private crossings, three turnouts, replacing worn out 90-pound rail with 115-pound continuous welded rail (cwr) and installing 13,350 new crossties over 12.9 miles of track. When complete, the total project on the Janesville–Fox Lake line will include 30,000 new crossties, new ballast with tamping and surfacing of the railroad bed and installation of 21.5 miles of new 115-pound cwr. The Madison-Reedsburg line, the Reedsburg and Prairie subdivisions and the Fox Lake Subdivision are all jointly owned by WisDOT and the WRRTC.

WSOR will use a $3.9 million FRPP grant on its Oshkosh Subdivision — Phase 1 Rail Replacement. The grant covers 80 percent of the $4.9 million total project cost to replace existing 85- and 90-pound rail with 115-pound cwr on 7.5 miles of track between Brandon and Ripon. Seven public crossings and 13 turnouts also will be reconstructed. WSOR and the East Wisconsin Counties Railroad Consortium will provide the 20 percent local match of $985,560, half of which will be financed with a FRIIP loan of $492,780. The Oshkosh Subdivision is jointly owned by WisDOT and WSOR.

Country Visions Co-op, Wrightstown, Wis., will use the $4 million FRIIP loan for an $8.5 million project to construct a large railroad-served fertilizer facility in the village of Wrightstown in Outagamie County. Costs above the loan amount are to be paid for with private funds. The new facility will be served by Canadian National and will make dry fertilizers available to nearby farms on a more timely basis for spring planting as a result of this new rail-served facility.

Since 1994, WisDOT has provided more than $225 million in FRPP grants and more than $127 million in FRIIP loans to help fund 166 infrastructure acquisition, rehabilitation and improvement projects statewide.

Wisconsin’s rail system consists of 10 freight railroads, which operate more than 3,300 miles of track in the state. Each year, more than 200 million tons of cargo is moved by rail.