Largest CREATE Rail Project Now in Motion
Officials broke ground on Oct. 25 on the largest CREATE project to date, The Forest Hill Flyover (P3), at CSX Forest Hill Railroad Yard.
CREATE
CREATE Receives $12.9MM Grant for Pullman Junction Project
The CREATE partners received a $12.9 million federal grant for the Pullman Junction project in the south Chicago communities of Burnside and Cottage Grove Heights.
CREATE WA4 project completed
BNSF Railway and the Chicago CREATE partners have completed BNSF Connection project (WA4), which established a new direct connection between BNSF’s Corwith and Cicero Yards, as well as between the CN Freeport Subdivision and the Western Avenue Corridor along which BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX and Union Pacific operate. Prior to WA4, freight trains had to travel longer, more indirect routings to make these connections, including long and potentially hazardous reverse moves.
CREATE 75th Street CIP breaks ground
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 1 for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program’s 75th Street Corridor Improvements Project (75th St. CIP), at Forest Hill Junction.
Plans aim to streamline Chicago rail network
Officials in the Windy City want to unwind the nation’s most complicated railroad labyrinth.
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.
Illinois awards $241M to freight projects
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) awarded $241 million to 23 state freight projects on June 5.
34th CREATE project under construction
Ground has been broken on Phase III (construction phase) of the CREATE (Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency) Program’s 34th initiative, Project B1, “Canadian Pacific Crossover Upgrades.” Metra and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) will upgrade signals and add several crossover tracks, principally within the Metra Milwaukee District West right-of-way.
FEIS, ROD issued for CREATE 75th St. CIP
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued a combined Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (75th Street CIP).
Illinois, UP mark projects new and old
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durban (D) joined Union Pacific President and COO Lance Fritz Friday, June 27, 2014, to announce a joint $90 million addition of a third track to Metra’s West Line.