WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that they have secured significant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) for rail infrastructure projects in Northern Minnesota.
The Midway Road (CSAH 13) Railroad Crossing Elimination Planning and Development project has received $1.8 million to provide a long-term multimodal freight solution improving safety, reliability, and efficiency along the CN rail corridor and the Midway Road (CSAH 13) corridor, benefiting the entire region’s transportation network.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Moorhead to Duluth Corridor Crossing Elimination and Improvement Study has received $800,000 to study crossings along a 250-mile stretch of the BNSF Railway Northern Transcontinental Line within Minnesota, which will evaluate existing conditions, identify alternatives, and develop a corridor project inventory to improve safety.
“Blocked rail crossings not only inconvenience drivers, but also delay emergency vehicles and threaten public safety,” said Klobuchar. “This federal investment will reduce traffic, boost efficiency and improve rail crossing safety. Investments in our infrastructure serve as a down payment on the long-term economic well-being of our state.”
“Northern Minnesota relies on freight rail to transport goods, especially to the Port of Duluth where our goods travel to all corners of the world,” said Senator Smith. “Making the railroads more efficient and safer will boost the Northland’s economy for decades, and is exactly the kind of smart investment we should be making to improve the lives of Minnesotans.”
This investment is made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which both Klobuchar and Smith supported and worked to pass. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorized USDOT’s Rail Crossing Elimination Grant Program (RCE), which provides funding for highway-rail and pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects that improve the safety and mobility of people and goods.
Klobuchar and Smith have both cosponsored the bipartisan Railway Safety Act. This legislation will make key updates to improve rail safety protocols, including increasing inspections on trains that carry hazardous materials, requiring rail carriers to have emergency response plans, and increasing penalties for rail companies when crashes happen.
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