Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on March 12 announced the recipients of $248.5 million in railroad grants under the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program that was established by the FAST Act of 2015 and funded in the fiscal 2019 transportation appropriations act.
“This $248.5 million federal investment will upgrade rail infrastructure and enhance safety on the tracks and at railroad crossings in rural and urban communities across America,” said Chao.
Given that the CRISI program was once a source of grant funding for positive train control (PTC) implementation grants, it seems odd that there don’t appear to be any FY 2019 PTC grants from the program.
USDOT has been slow making out some of the grant announcements from the 2019 appropriations act, so the FY 2020 law ordered them to make the announcements for several programs (including CRISI) before May 1, 2020.
The underlying CRISI statute (49 U.S.C. §22907) requires that at least 25 percent of each year’s CRISI grants go towards projects in rural areas, but this being the Trump Administration, rural grants got 51.4 percent of the FY 2019 funding announced this week.
Here are the rural grants (mean grant award $9.5 million, median grant award $5.6 million):
AK |
Alaska RR Bird Creek Pony Truss Bridge Replacement |
$3,871,913 |
DE-MD-VA |
Delmarve Central RR Bridge Upgrades |
$18,803,354 |
FL |
NE FL Rural Railyard Project |
$7,763,119 |
IA |
Welded Rail Upgrade, Des Moines – Council Bluffs |
$5,579,357 |
KS-OK |
TSOL Track Upgrades |
$27,000,000 |
ME |
New Wells Transportation Center Passenger Platform |
$16,867,281 |
MI |
LSRC Huron Subdivision Welded Rail Upgrade |
$7,875,770 |
MN-SD |
Class III Updgrades, Brandon to Worthington |
$14,459,100 |
NM |
South Valley Rail Freight Near Kirkland AFB |
$4,638,546 |
OH |
Greenfield to Midland Track Upgrades |
$1,702,688 |
PA |
McKean & Venango County WNYP Bridge Upgrades |
$11,926,000 |
TN |
Line & Grade Crossing Upgrades, Humboldt |
$2,205,000 |
TX |
Dayton Rail Crossings Improvement |
$700,000 |
TX |
Fisher Yard Upgrades, Moore County |
$4,086,700 |
TX |
TXGN-UP Harwood, TX Upgrade |
$223,768 |
|
Total, Rural Projects |
$127,702,596 |
And here are the urban grants (mean grant size $7.1 million, median grant size $4.5 million):
CA |
Burbank/Glendale |
Improve Burbank Airport and Glendale Stations |
$10,746,091 |
CO |
Colorado Springs |
Extension of Southwest Chief |
$225,000 |
CO |
Longmont |
BNSF Mainline Grade Crossing Upgrades |
$4,000,000 |
CT |
Windsor Locks |
New Passenger Rail Station |
$17,490,000 |
FL |
Palmetto |
Port Manatee Track Upgrades Phase 1 |
$301,067 |
FL |
Palmetto |
Port Manatee Track Upgrades Phase 2 |
$606,720 |
IL |
Chicago |
CREATE NS Expansion Pullman Junction |
$12,905,671 |
IA |
Cedar Rapids |
Replace CRANDIC Bridge Over UP Line |
$2,978,015 |
LA |
New Orleans |
NOPB Yard Upgrades/Expansion |
$7,297,421 |
MA |
Medford |
High St. & Canal St. Grade Crossings |
$136,500 |
MI |
Battle Creek |
New Passenger Rail Track |
$749,919 |
MS |
Hattiesburg |
CN and NS Grade Separation/Connection |
$5,397,300 |
MO |
St. Louis |
Replace Merchant’s Bridge to Venice IL |
$21,445,577 |
NC |
Mooresville |
SH 115 – NS Grade Crossing Upgrade |
$4,487,500 |
OH |
Cincinnati |
SORTA Upgrade Projects |
$4,736,123 |
TX |
Houston |
UP-BNSF Grade Crossings |
$666,000 |
WI |
Milwaukee |
Muskego Yard Bypass Project |
$26,600,000 |
|
|
Total, Urban Projects |
$120,768,904 |
A little more detail on each grant can be found in the full list on the DOT webpage.