Nearly $53 million going toward freight infrastructure improvement projects in Pennsylvania

Nearly $53 million will fund projects designed to improve infrastructure and economic development in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) said it is funding 30 projects that are designed to improve freight mobility.

Local projects include:

Allegheny County:

• Allegheny Valley Railroad: $2.1 million to replace 1.3 miles of jointed rail with new 136 lb. rail on the Allegheny Subdivision.
• Union Railroad: $700,000 to replace ties within seven tracks within the Ore Yard and four tracks on the Joe Wolf Yard.
• MetalTech: $840,000 to replace approximately 2,000 feet of rail and rebuild a 250-foot concrete-embedded grade crossing at its metals processing facility.

Armstrong, Butler, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, Lawrence, and McKean Counties:

• Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad: $4 million to improve 218 miles of the Main Line and P&W Subdivisions through replacements of 40 grade crossings, 80,000 feet of rail, 30,000 ties, and surfacing 48 miles of track.

Butler, Cameron, and Elk Counties:

• Pittsburg & Shawmut Railroad: $3.1 million to rehabilitate approximately 20 miles of track on the Laurel Subdivision, an additional 6 miles of track, install two switch machines and improve a grade crossing in the Butler Yard.

Washington County:

• Pittsburgh & Ohio Central Railroad: $1.1 million to construct approximately 4,800 feet of new track in the Scully Yard and rehabilitate 10,560 linear feet of track on the Arden Subdivision.
• Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway: $5.9 million to rehabilitate three rail bridges located on the Pittsburgh and Rook subdivisions.

Westmoreland County:

• Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad: $3.24 million to rehabilitate 3 miles of rail, replacing jointed rail on the Radebaugh Subdivision with welded rail.

Funding comes from the Rail Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) and the Rail Freight Assistance Program (RFAP).

“Pennsylvania’s rail freight network supports family-sustaining jobs and connects Pennsylvania communities to the global economy while bolstering local economic development,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “These investments to expand and improve the network will create opportunities for generations of Pennsylvanians to come.”

Officials expect the new projects to create 450 jobs in the Commonwealth.

Click here to learn more about Pennsylvania rail grant programs.

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