FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 18, 2001
Contact: Corry Schiermeyer
Telephone:
(202) 493-6024
FRA 04-01
U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Announces Grants to Remove Hazards at High Speed
Rail Grade Crossings
The
U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta today announced Federal Railroad
Administration grants totaling $4.6 million to ten states in federally
designated high-speed rail corridors to eliminate hazards at public and private
highway-rail grade crossings.
“We
must eliminate highway-rail grade crossing hazards to safely implement
high-speed rail and these grants will assist in this process,” said Secretary
Mineta. “Additionally, the
President has proposed investing $154 million dollars for rail safety
in FY 2002 - 9 percent more than FY 2001.”
The
funds will be used with other federal and state grade crossing funding to safely
accelerate the implementation of high-speed rail corridors.
All public and private highway-rail grade crossings in designated
corridors are eligible for funding which may be spent on closing and
consolidating crossings, building grade separations, analysis and engineering
activities, installing or upgrading warning devices and other related project
development. The federal share of
costs for improvements may be up to 100 percent of the total engineering and
construction costs.
Fiscal 2001 grants to designated
corridors are as follows:
•
Pacific Northwest Corridor:
Oregon, $1,318,500.
•
California Corridor:
California, $109,875.
•
Chicago Hub Corridor:
Minnesota, $219,750; Wisconsin, $439,500.
•
Gulf Coast Corridor:
Louisiana, $439,500; Mississippi, $492,240; Alabama, $386,760.
•
Southeast Corridor:
Georgia, $109,875; Virginia, $659,250.
•
Keystone Corridor:
Pennsylvania, $439,500.
Since the enactment of the Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing Program in 1973, highway-rail grade crossing fatalities have declined at public crossings from 1,185 in 1973 to 414 in 2000, representing a 65.1 percent decline in fatalities since the program began.
The
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) expanded the
highway-rail grade crossing hazard elimination program that originated under the
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA).
The Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway
Administration manage the program.
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