Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program

Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program

The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) is a project to improve the efficiency of the rail network in the Chicago area by building, amongst other things, flyovers to separate rail traffic on conflicting lines. While the need is fairly clear, finance for the project is stalled in the United States Congress.

Contents

Problems

The tracks and junctions in the Chicago area have grown with little coordination between the railroads and the city since the first railroads arrived in the 1830s. There are a large number of at-grade crossings, sometimes not located a train length apart which is a problem as train lengths have grown. Some flyovers exist but do not always have clearance for tall or double-stack trains. Some connections that would create short cuts for some traffic are missing. There are also a lot of highway crossings at grades.

The congestion in the Chicago area is predicted to lead to severe disruption by the late 2010s without the completion of the CREATE program.[1]

Projects

The program is composed of a total of 71 separate projects, of which 46 are eliminating rail junctions and the remainder are eliminating grade crossings.[1] Of these, as of January 2011, a total of 11 had been fully completed, nine were under construction, another eight were having designs finalized, and 15 were having environmental studies carried out.[2]

Major projects

Englewood Junction

A junction in Englewood, Chicago received $133 million to construct a flyover for Metra trackage above a Norfolk Southern route, eliminating a grade-level crossing.[3] 138 trains a day operate through the junction, which is the cause of the majority of delays in the Midwest for Amtrak trains.[3] Planned since 2002, the project was originally planned to begin construction in late 2010, with a completion date in 2012.[3] On 22 June 2011, it was announced that the state of Illinois, Amtrak, Norfolk Southern and the Federal Railway Administration had signed a final agreement for financing the project, with the federal government paying 95% of the cost, with construction to begin later in the year and a completion date sometime in 2013.[4]

Passenger train stations

As part of CREATE, Metra plans to reroute some commuter trains from Chicago Union Station to LaSalle Street Station, in order for high-speed passenger trains to operate into Union Station.[1]

Other projects

  • Construction of additional Union Pacific mainline trackage near Proviso Yard[2]
  • Signaling and grade-separation improvements to the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad[2]
  • General improvements to roadways near railroad overpasses[2]
  • Additional trackage, improved signaling and grade separations on CSX trackage in Alsip[5]

Funding

CREATE is a public-private partnership estimated to cost around $3 billion, up from an initial predicted cost of $1 billion.[1] $230 million is to be supplied by railroads that are part of the program, with the remainder coming from governments at federal, state and local levels.[1] In July 2010, a $100 million TIGER grant from the federal government was finalized.[2] As of late 2010, a total of around $320 million had been committed to the project, with an additional $133 million to be provided from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[1]

See also

References



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