Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency

Earlier this month, the Illinois Department of Transportation tweeted: “IDOT joined our @CREATE_Chicago partners to present $200,000 in education funding as part of the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project, giving local students more access to STEM-focused programs. It represents an opportunity to bring real equity to a transportation project.” (Photograph Courtesy of IDOT via Twitter)

Rail Briefs: CREATE, OmniTRAX

The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program partners are bolstering STEM education in the Chicago, Ill., area with donations totaling $400,000. Also, Stockton (Calif.) Terminal and Eastern Railroad, a managed affiliate of OmniTRAX, presented a community donation to the Waterloo-Morada Fire District in honor of Pacific Northwest Oil.

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CREATE 75th Street: $132 million from USDOT

The CREATE (Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency) partners—Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Cook County, Association of American Railroads (AAR), Metra, Amtrak and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)—have received a $132 million U.S. Department of Transportation INFRA (Infrastructure For Rebuilding America) Grant for the $474 million 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (CIP). This project will grade-separate several freight and passenger rail lines in Chicago’s Englewood, Auburn Gresham and West Chatham neighborhoods that currently intersect, creating significant delays and congestion.