State leaders share projects selected for CRISI grants

Several federal lawmakers and state departments of transportation have announced the projects in their states that will receive federal funding through the latest round of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. The FRA has not yet issued the full list of grant recipients. 

In Wisconsin, the FRA awarded $218 million for an expansion of the Amtrak Hiawatha passenger-rail service. The Hiawatha West project will extend Amtrak service from Chicago to Milwaukee west into Waukesha, Jefferson and Dane Counties, according to a release from U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). The FRA also awarded $34 million to Watco's Fox Valley and Lake Superior Rail System to repair and upgrade the Luxemburg Swing Bridge over the Fox River in Green Bay. The bridge was constructed in 1923 and is a critical rail connection for Green Bay and Brown County businesses, carrying over 25,000 freight carloads annually.

Massachusetts will receive $130 million in CRISI grant funding for the Springfield Hub Modernization Project, which will improve existing passenger-rail service along the Connecticut River Line and lay groundwork for future rail connections between Boston, Springfield and Albany, New York. Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials said in a press release. The project is a key phase of a larger track reconfiguration project in Springfield and calls for updating tracks, signals and other infrastructure to improve the flow of freight and passenger-rail trains in the area, thereby improving on-time performance for Amtrak Vermonter and Valley Flyer passengers.

The FRA awarded $27 million in CRISI grant funding to modernize rail infrastructure owned by the Alabama & Gulf Coast Railway. The project is now funded from development through construction and also includes improvements to infrastructure on the Eastern Alabama Railway in Alabama and Mississippi. Crews will replace ties, rail, turnouts and ballast, surface the track, modernize signals and communications, rehabilitate 34 grade crossings and install anti-trespassing signage.

In North Dakota, the FRA has awarded the Red River Valley & Western Railroad (RRVW) a $23.6 million grant to modernize aging infrastructure along about 26 miles of rail and to construct a new siding near Wahpeton. Additionally, the FRA awarded $690,825 to Bottineau County to support rail safety improvements and increased grain-handling capacity, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.).

The Maine Department of Transportation has been awarded just over $37 million for the Northern Aroostook Rail Gateway Modernization and Safety Project. The funding will support rehabilitation of about 90 miles of track and a bridge in Maine Northern Railway's Madawaska subdivision in northern Maine, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a press release.