LOCALIZE IT: $570M in grants headed to railroad crossing projects in 32 states

Eliminating Railroad Crossings (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The Biden administration is handing out more than $570 million in grants to help eliminate railroad crossings in 32 states just as the industry is increasingly relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs.

The grants announced Monday will help eliminate more than three dozen crossings that delay traffic and sometimes keep first responders from where help is desperately needed.

There have been examples of ambulance delays resulting in a death and homes burning down while firefighters wait at a blocked crossing. In addition, roughly 2,000 collisions are reported at railroad crossings every year. Nearly 250 deaths were recorded last year in those car-train crashes.

These grants are part of a $3 billion program approved as part of the $1 trillion infrastructure law that President Joe Biden signed in 2021. That money will be handed out over five years.

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Dozens of dangerous rail crossings will be eliminated with $570 million in grants

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WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING?

The following is a list of projects receiving funding. Most of the grants are for planning or smaller improvements at crossings. But more than 30 projects will eliminate crossings, and some eliminate several crossings. Find more details on each project here.

Alabama - City of Calera State Road 25 Railway-Highway Grade Separation Project (Up To $11,742,184)

Alabama - Railroad crossing elimination on Shelby County Road 52 (Up To $41,766,038) City of Pelham

Arkansas – Northwest Arkansas Rail Corridor Safety Study (Up To $576,000) City of Fayetteville

California – Hargrave Grade Separation Planning Project (Up To $2,800,000) City of Banning

California – Grade Separation at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive and Charleston Road (Up To $6,000,000) City of Palo Alto

California – Third Street Grade Separation Project (Up To $15,000,000) City of Riverside

California – Los Angeles County Rail Crossing Elimination Master Plan (Up To $600,160) Los Angeles County

California – Sierra Highway Crossing Elimination Planning Project (Up To $704,000) Los Angeles County

California – Doran Street Grade Separation Project (Up To $38,300,000) Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

California – San Diego At-Grade Crossing Elimination Study (Up To $1,096,800) San Diego Association of Governments

Colorado – Comprehensive Planning Study to Eliminate Two At-Grade Highway- Rail Crossings on US 34 (Up To $700,000) Colorado Department of Transportation

Delaware – CSXT Railroad Corridor Safety Improvements (Up To $1,600,000) Delaware Department of Transportation

Florida – Broward County Sealed Corridor Project (Up To $15,440,000) Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization

Florida – City of Fort Lauderdale Railroad Safety and Congestion Analysis (Up To $280,000) City of Fort Lauderdale

Florida – Building BRIDGES Planning Study - West Palm Beach Florida East Coast Rail Corridor Safety Action Plan (Up To $320,000) City of West Palm Beach

Georgia – Chatham Multimodal Community Improvement Project (Up To $1,870,000) Chatham County

Georgia – Conversion of At-Grade Crossing on Constitution Road to Grade Separated Crossing (Up To $460,460) DeKalb County

Georgia – Feasibility Study for Railroad Crossing Eliminations (Up To $888,000) Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners

Idaho – SH-53 Pleasant View Grade Separation Project (Up To $36,000,000) Idaho Department of Transportation

Illinois – Brush College Road and Faries Parkway Grade Separation Project (Up To $16,000,000) City of Decatur

Illinois – Village of Franklin Park Grade Separation Project - Connect Franklin Park: Bridging Barriers and Creating Opportunities (Up To $8,000,000) Village of Franklin Park

Indiana – Governors Parkway Railroad Overpass Project (Up To $7,029,392) City of Hammond

Indiana – Buffington Harbor Gateway Project (Up To $4,500,000) City of Gary

Indiana – Peru Grade Separation Feasibility Study (Up To $76,000) City of Peru

Indiana – Kennedy Avenue Railroad Overpass Project (Up To $8,452,558) Town of Schererville

Indiana – Wells County Hoosier Highway Crossing Elimination Project (Up To $1,114,261) Wells County

Iowa – South Concord Street Grade Separation (Up To $7,756,862) City of Davenport

Kansas – Corridor Improvement Project Involving 15 Street Crossings with BNSF Railroad within City of Emporia (Up To $601,000) City of Emporia

Kansas – 119th Street, Woodland to Northgate - BNSF Separation and Crossing Elimination Safety Improvement Project (Up To $17,987,495) City of Olathe

Kansas – Grade Crossing Closures and Construction of Grade-Separated Highway Overpass on the BNSF Southern Transcon Main Line (Up To $8,864,725) City of Wellington

Maryland – Warner Street Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Project (Up To $1,534,280) MDOT - Maryland Transit Administration

Michigan – West Side Grade Separation Project (Up To $23,964,400) City of Monroe

Michigan – Manistee County Safer Southern Rail Route (Up To $424,000) Manistee County

Minnesota – TH 27/Mississippi River Bridge Grade Separation (Up To $3,200,000) City of Little Falls

Minnesota – CSAH 55 Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Elimination Project (Up To $4,824,563) Kandiyohi County

Minnesota – Office of Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations: Planning Study for Future of Severely Humped Highway/BNSF Rail Grade Crossings for Closure, Consolidation or Improvements. (Up To $480,000) Minnesota Department of Transportation

Missouri – Kansas City Riverfront Rail Crossing Elimination Study (Up To $2,000,000) Port Authority of Kansas City

Montana – Whitefish Rail Corridor Crossing Study (Up To $400,000) City of Whitefish

North Carolina – Durham Rail-Crossing Engagement, Planning, and Innovative Revitalization (Durham REPAIR) (Up To $1,220,000) Durham County Government

North Dakota – 42nd Street Grade Separation Project to Improve Efficiency, Connectivity, Equity, and Safety (PIECES) (Up To $30,000,000) North Dakota Department of Transportation

New Mexico – Santa Teresa At-Grade Separation (Up To $31,171,088) County of Dona Ana

New York – New York State Fairgrounds Crossing Consolidation Project (Up To $11,008,000) New York State Department of Transportation

Ohio – Symmes Road Grade Separation Project (Up To $3,000,000) Butler County Transportation Improvement District

Ohio – Unlocking the Iron Triangle: Grade Separation of S Town Street, Fostoria, Ohio (Up To $7,245,000) Ohio Rail Development Commission

Oregon – Reed Market Grade Separation Project Development (Up To $1,050,000) City of Bend

Oregon – Central Eastside Railroad Crossing Study (Up To $500,000) City of Portland

Pennsylvania – CSX/SEPTA Grade Crossing Elimination Study – A Study to Alleviate Congestion and Enhance Community Safety (Up To $375,000) Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Pennsylvania – Redevelopment Authority of the County of Berks Project to Upgrade and Refurbish At-Grade Crossings and Bridges (Up To $16,063,596) Redevelopment Authority of the County of Berks

South Carolina – The Florence Railroad Crossing Safety Improvement Planning Project (Up To $60,000) City of Florence

Tennessee – 3rd St SE and Norfolk Southern Railroad Grade Separation (Up To $27,483,694) City of Cleveland

Texas – NE 24th Avenue Railroad Overpass (Up To $8,425,000) City of Amarillo

Texas – Rittiman Road Grade Separation Project (Up To $4,886,512) City of San Antonio

Texas – US 90 Grade Separation Project (Up To $19,550,000) Texas Department of Transportation

Texas – Haslet-Fort Worth-Saginaw Corridor Bonds Ranch Road Grade Separation Project (Up To $17,187,552) Texas Department of Transportation

Texas – West Belt Improvement Project (Phase 1) (Up To $36,916,200) City of Houston

Utah – Bluffdale Pedestrian Overpass Project (Up To $3,232,000) City of Bluffdale

Virginia – DC2RVA Rural Crossings Safety Improvements Project (Up To $3,200,000) Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation

Washington – Railroad Overcrossing Planning and Design (Up To $2,000,000) City of Burlington

Washington – S. Holgate St At-Grade Crossing Elimination Study (Up To $2,000,000) City of Seattle

Washington – 32nd Street Underpass Project (Up To $40,480,000) City of Washougal

Wisconsin – Galloway Street Vehicular and Pedestrian Rail Crossing Eliminations and Construction of Galloway St. Rail Overpass (Up To $9,999,600) City of Eau Claire

West Virginia – Studying for the Potential Elimination of Existing At-Grade Rail Crossing on 19th Street in Parkersburg. (Up To $96,000) City of Parkersburg

West Virginia – West Virginia Crossing Safety Action Plan Implementation (Up To $480,000) West Virginia Department of Transportation

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RESOURCES

— The Transportation Department release announcing the grants is available here

— Additional information about the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program can be found here

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PUBLISHABLE CONTEXT

The major freight railroads have overhauled their operations in recent years to cut costs. Part of how they have done that is to rely on increasingly longer trains, so they can carry the same freight with fewer crews and locomotives. Trains now routinely stretch more than 2 miles long.

Workers say the long trains railroads favor are harder to operate as they cross over uneven terrain because parts of the train may be going uphill while other parts are going downhill. Rail unions also say longer trains are more likely to derail because of those competing forces, but the railroads have defended the practice and they say longer trains are safe.

But federal regulators cautioned earlier this year that railroads have to take special care in the way they assemble long trains to help minimize the forces within the train.

The Federal Railroad Administration stopped short of recommending in an April safety advisory that railroads limit the size of their trains. However, they did suggest a number of precautions including making sure engineers know how to handle them and that locomotives don’t lose communication with devices at the end of trains that can help trigger the brakes in an emergency.

In addition to concerns about the way cars on long trains push and pull against each other long trains also block more crossings, which creates delays for drivers and can keep emergency responders from reaching someone who needs their help quickly. Also, pedestrians may risk their lives by crawling under or through stopped trains that could start moving without warning.

States that proposed limits on train size this year include Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nevada and Washington although Nevada's governor just vetoed a bill to do that last week.

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LOCAL REPORTING TIPS

— Talk to your local police and fire departments about how delays at railroad crossings have affected their responses to emergencies

— Check whether parts of your city are cut off from police and fire stations by railroad crossings.

— Talk with commuters about how delays at railroad crossings impact them and how long they spend waiting for trains to cross an intersection.

— Ask city officials about how many hours a day railroad crossings are blocked by train traffic in your city

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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.