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FRA's FY19 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure 

and Safety Improvements Program Projects

15 Rural Projects - At least $63.7 million required, 

up to $127.7 million awarded

Alaska – M.P. 86.6 Bird Creek Pony Truss Bridge Replacement Up to $3,871,913

Alaska Railroad Corporation

Replaces a nearly 70-year-old bridge on the Alaska Railroad (ARR) mainline that will allow ARR to 

operate 286,000-pound (286K) rail cars and double-stack trains.

Delaware, Maryland and Virginia – Critical Ongoing Railroad Rehabilitation Improving Delmarva 

Operations & Reliability (Opportunity Zone) Up to $18,803,354

Delmarva Central Railroad Co.

Refurbishes three Delmarva Central Railroad (DCR) rail bridges over navigable waterways in Bear and 

Seaford, Delaware, and Pocomoke City, Maryland; upgrades over 100 miles of track between Porter, 

Delaware, and Lecato, Virginia; and improves roughly nine railroad crossings in Delaware and Maryland.

Florida – Northeast Florida Rural Railyard Project (Opportunity Zone) Up to $7,763,119

Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad LLC

Includes right-of-way acquisition, preliminary engineering and environmental analysis and 

documentation, and builds a roughly 72-acre railyard in Baker County, Florida. Roberts Land & Timber 

(Roberts) currently owns the land. The railyard will be the anchor for a new transload facility. The project 

allows Florida Gulf & Atlantic (FGA) to stage trains there instead of hauling all freight 125 miles west to 

Tallahassee prior to interchange with CSX.

Iowa – Iowa Interstate Continuous Welded Rail Upgrade Up to $5,579,357

Iowa Interstate Railroad, LTD

Replaces approximately 19 miles of jointed rail on the Iowa Interstate Railroad (IAIS) between Des 

Moines and Council Bluffs, Iowa, with continuous welded rail, and upgrades two bridges and two atgrade crossings.

Kansas and Oklahoma – Accelerating Economic Prosperity in the Heartland: A Rural Freight Rail 

Project (Opportunity Zone) Up to $27,000,000

Kansas Department of Transportation

Upgrades track, including rail replacement, ties, ballast, turnouts, repair bridges, and grade crossings on 

the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) Tulsa, Moline, and Neodesha Subdivisions allowing 

about 80 percent of the railroad to be 286K capable.
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Maine – Wells Area Improvement Project Up to $16,867,281

Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority

Constructs a new intercity passenger rail platform at the Wells Transportation Center and a pedestrian 

bridge to access the new platform, and extends an existing two-mile Pan Am Railway siding to become a 

six-mile siding adjacent to the new platform in Wells, Maine.

Michigan – Infrastructure Enhancement Program for Lake State Railway’s Huron Subdivision Up 

to $7,875,770 (Opportunity Zone)

Lake State Railway Company

Replaces about 30 miles of nearly 100-year-old jointed rail with continuous welded rail, upgrades 

turnouts, improves associated grade crossing circuitry, and resurfaces grade crossings primarily on the 

Huron Subdivision of the Lake State Railway (LSRC).

Minnesota and South Dakota – Minnesota-South Dakota Rail Improvement Project Up to 

$14,459,100 (Opportunity Zone)

Ellis and Eastern Company

Includes numerous upgrades along roughly 38 miles of Class III Ellis and Eastern rail infrastructure 

between Brandon, South Dakota (about 6 miles west of the Minnesota state line), and Worthington, 

Minnesota, on approximately 11 bridges, one siding, about six miles of rail, and about 45 grade crossings.

New Mexico – South Valley Rail Freight (Opportunity Zone) Up to $4,638,546

Bernalillo County

Provides for the acquisition and rehabilitation of an unused, roughly 3.7-mile industrial spur track 

currently owned by Kirtland Air Force Base to serve an under-construction industrial park and the 

construction of a new, roughly 1-mile siding to serve an adjacent trucking terminal.

Ohio – Revitalizing Rail to Retain Jobs in Rural Ohio Up to $1,702,688

Ohio Rail Development Commission

Includes rehabilitating roughly 30 miles of track, including ties, track surfacing, and gauging to allow for 

increased speeds between Greenfield and Midland, Ohio.

Pennsylvania – McKean, Venango, and Crawford Counties Freight Rail Capacity and Safety 

Enhancement Project (Opportunity Zone) Up to $11,926,000

McKean County

Replaces and rehabilitates four bridges on the Western New York and Pennsylvania (WNYP) line in 

McKean and Venango Counties in Northwestern Pennsylvania. This project will convert three truss 

bridges to girder bridges and replace the abutments on an existing girder bridge. Two of the bridges will 

continue as single-spans of the same length while the Oil Creek two-span bridge will become a three-span 

bridge.

Tennessee – West Tennessee Railroad Kenton Branch Rehabilitation and Safety Improvement 

Project (Opportunity Zone) Up to $2,205,000 West Tennessee Railroad, LLC

Upgrades about eight miles of rail to enable 286K operations and resurfaces two public at-grade crossings 

in Humboldt, Tennessee, on the Kenton Branch of the West Tennessee Railroad (WTNN).
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Texas – Dayton Rail Crossings Improvement Project Up to $700,000

City of Dayton

Provides for preliminary engineering and environmental analysis and documentation necessary to 

improve four at-grade crossings on Union Pacific track within the city of Dayton, Texas. This work will 

evaluate the potential for a grade separation in an area where 16 Union Pacific trains operate daily.

Texas – The Etter Interchange Improvement Up to $4,086,700

Texas Northwestern Railway Company

Combines two adjacent, undersized four-track yards within the Fisher Yard Complex in Moore County, 

Texas (located approximately an hour north of Amarillo in Northwest Texas), into a single yard capable 

of handling longer train consists between Texas Northwestern Railway Company (TXNW) and BNSF 

Railway. The project will install track capable of handling 286K rail cars and enable efficient interchange 

between the two railroads.

Texas – Harwood Interchange Improvement Up to $223,768

Texas, Gonzales, and Northern Railway

Improves roughly 9,000 feet of track at the Texas, Gonzales, and Northern Railway (TXGN) interchange 

point with Union Pacific at Harwood, approximately 55 miles south of Austin. The project will also build 

a new siding parallel to the TXGN’s mainline running south from the interchange along with associated 

switch improvements and replace two small wood trestle bridges with concrete culverts.

17 Remaining Projects - Up to $120.8 million awarded

California – Burbank Corridor Speed and Safety Improvements Project Up to $10,746,091

Southern California Regional Rail Authority

Includes environmental analysis, engineering, and construction between Glendale and Burbank Junction 

shared with Metrolink, Amtrak, and Union Pacific, including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

compliant upgrades at the pedestrian at-grade crossings at two intercity passenger rail stations – Glendale 

and Burbank Airport South. The project also includes track and signal improvements at Burbank Junction.

Colorado –Southwest Chief Through-Car Service to Colorado Springs Up to $225,000

Colorado Department of Transportation in partnership with the Southwest Chief and Front Range 

Passenger Rail Commission

Supports developing a corridor service development plan to extend Amtrak’s Southwest Chief service 

from existing station stops at La Junta and Trinidad to Pueblo and Colorado Springs to allow connection 

to Amtrak’s national network and allow for social and economic benefits for Front Range communities.

Colorado – Longmont Railroad Crossing Safety Improvement Project (Opportunity Zone) Up to 

$4,000,000

City of Longmont

Improves 15 grade crossings on the BNSF mainline in Longmont, Colorado, including installing fourquad gates, raised medians with gates and, in some instances, full closure at cross streets.
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Connecticut – Windsor Locks Station Improvements Up to $17,490,000

Connecticut Department of Transportation

Constructs a new accessible and ADA-compliant intercity passenger rail station in a more central in-town 

location in Windsor Locks with a level boarding platform. The project will also make improvements to 

adjacent tracks, roadways and sidewalks, and add four quad gates to a grade crossing. The project will 

convert the current Windsor Locks platform station location into a maintenance-of-way facility for 

intercity passenger rail.

Florida – Port Manatee Railroad – Track Rehabilitation Project Phase 1 Up to $301,067

Manatee County Port Authority

Replaces and upgrades existing track with new cross-ties, tie plates, bolts, tie anchors, spikes, ballast, and 

heavier rail within Port Manatee in Palmetto, Florida, in two areas – North and East of Warehouse 7 and 

between Warehouse 2 and 3 along Berths 6 and 7.

Florida – Port Manatee Railroad – Track Rehabilitation Project Phase 2 Up to $606,720

Manatee County Port Authority

Replaces and upgrades existing track in three additional areas within Port Manatee in Palmetto, Florida –

primarily at the South end of the port’s interchange with CSX, the rail line along North Dock Street 

between East and West End Mainline Switches, and additional work between Warehouses 2 and 3 along 

Berths 6 and 7.

Illinois – CREATE Program for Improvements to Pullman Junction Stage A (EW3A) (Opportunity 

Zone) Up to $12,905,671

Cook County

Expands a section of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) mainline near Pullman Junction from single track to 

double track and upgrades signals and switches along the corridor near 95th Street between Woodlawn 

Avenue and Stony Island Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Iowa – CRANDIC-UP Overhead Bridge Project Up to $2,978,015

Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway Co.

Replaces a 58-year-old Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Company (CRANDIC) overhead bridge that 

crosses the Union Pacific (UP) mainline in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Louisiana – New Orleans Gateway Rail Fluidity and Capacity Improvements Up to $7,297,421

New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation

Upgrades from manual to power switches the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad’s (NOPB) main 

classification yard – Cotton Warehouse Yard – and expands three regional yards to provide capacity for 

storage and switching of additional rail cars.

Massachusetts – High Street and Canal Street Railroad Grade Crossing Improvement Project Up 

to $136,500

City of Medford

Completes preliminary engineering and federal environmental analysis and documentation to improve 

two grade crossings – High Street and Canal Street – located about 900 feet apart at a skewed angle to the 

railroad tracks in Medford, Massachusetts, where the Downeaster, MBTA and Pan Am freight trains pass 

through.
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Michigan – Battle Creek Connection Project (Opportunity Zone)

Up to $749,919

Michigan Department of Transportation

Funds preliminary engineering and environmental analysis and documentation for a new dedicated

intercity passenger rail track in Battle Creek, Michigan, to allow intercity passenger trains to bypass 

Canadian National track where frequent host railroad delays occur. The preliminary engineering and 

environmental analysis work encompasses new track, turnouts, grade crossings, and the reconstruction of 

the intercity passenger rail boarding platform at the Battle Creek Intermodal Terminal.

Mississippi – Hattiesburg Downtown Railroad Innovation: Construction of Grade Separation and 

Connection Track (Opportunity Zone) Up to $5,397,300

City of Hattiesburg

Consists of three components: a grade separation over the Canadian National north-south rail line; a new 

spur/connection track to improve freight movements in and out of a Norfolk Southern rail yard to reduce 

blocked crossings; and innovative ways to notify drivers via dynamic message signs and mobile mapping 

applications about blocked crossings and the presence of trains so that drivers may re-route.

Missouri – The Merchants Bridge Rehabilitation Program (Opportunity Zone) Up to $21,445,577

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis

Replaces the main span trusses of the approximately 130-year-old Merchant’s Bridge, which crosses the 

Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois.

North Carolina – The Mazeppa Road Flyover Rail Crossing Project Up to $4,487,500

Town of Mooresville

The highway-rail grade separation project will eliminate the at-grade rail crossing and build a four-lane 

bridge for vehicular traffic at the intersection of Mazeppa/Connector Road and North Carolina State 

Highway NC-115 with Norfolk Southern Railway in Mooresville.

Ohio – Cincinnati Connections Revitalization Up to $4,736,123

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority

Incorporates multiple rail upgrade projects along the Blue Ash and Oasis Subdivisions located in 

Cincinnati, Ohio, operated by the Indiana and Ohio Railway Company (IORY) and owned by the 

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). Projects include track upgrades to allow for 286K 

rail car loads on the Blue Ash Subdivision, rail yard improvements, and three bridge rehabilitations on the 

Oasis Subdivision.

Texas – The Griggs Road and Mykawa Road Rail Safety Improvements Project (Opportunity 

Zone) Up to $666,000

Greater Southeast Management District

Provides alternatives analysis, preliminary engineering and federal environmental analysis, and 

documentation to grade-separate four current at-grade highway-rail crossings at the intersection of Griggs 

Road, Mykawa Road, and Long Drive with Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe 

Railway in Houston, Texas.
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Wisconsin – Muskego Yard Bypass Project (Opportunity Zone) Up to $26,600,000

Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Reconfigures the existing Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) rail and yard facilities just south of the 

Milwaukee Intermodal Station (an intercity passenger station owned by Wisconsin Department of 

Transportation) to double-track the CP’s mainline through the Muskego Yard, moving freight traffic out 

of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station and reducing the number of grade crossings CP freight trains cross 

in Milwaukee.