2010 Grant Applications, Over $2 Billion Available

The official list is now out:

http://www.fra.dot.gov/rpd/downloads/Su ... s_1010.pdf

There were a few smaller projects that we missed:

$13M for third track along the NEC in Delaware
$40M for Union Depot in St. Paul, Minnesota
$22M for grade separations/trackwork in Charlotte, NC
$30M for various projects in Washington state.

As for the Michigan grant, the money is to acquire the line and begin "incremental restoration". It will be interesting to see how that plays out - good in the long run, but will we get to the long run?

The official USDOT announcement is here:

Today, the Obama Administration and the Department of Transportation are awarding $2.4 billion for planning and construction of intercity passenger rail service. With these 54 projects in 23 states, we're moving full-speed ahead toward a nationwide high-speed rail system.

There's also a video interview with USDOT Sec. Ray LaHood at The New Yorker website. In the interview LaHood suggests that HSR may become Obama's Hoover Dam (lasting legacy). HSR is discussed in the first 5 minutes of the interview, after that the talk is about the general workings of DC and what it's like being a GOP in the Obama cabinet.

Other smaller projects in the FRA grant list that I don't recall having seen listed:
Illinois - $3.7 million of replace the Wadsworth Bridge on the Chicago to Milwaukee corridor (from remaining FY09 funds)

Michigan - $7.9 million for West Detroit Junction track project for CTC signals, 1.34 miles of new connection track, bridge replacement to fix an intersection of CSAO and CN lines. According t the Michigan application, this will improve passenger rail travel times by 10 minutes between Dearborn and Detroit. However, like the $308 million Chi-Det Kalamazoo-Dearborn application for the NS tracks, it is about 1/2 of the requested $14.6 million funding. Try again next year or are there other pots of federal funding Michigan can apply for to fill in the rest?

Missouri - $3.6 million for St. Louis Third Main Track construction to improve access to the Gateway Multimodel center station

Oklahoma - $1.6 million for the Oklahoma City station to build a track extension to allow the heartland Flyer to exit the station without having to make a reverse move.

More interesting planning and PE grants:
Georgia - $4.1 million for completion of a Service Development Plan and environmental study for the Charlotte, NC to Atlanta corridor.
Idaho - $200 thousand for a completion of a state rail plan. Idaho has one Amtrak stop way north in Sandpoint where the Empire Builder stops at. Either the plans calls again for the restoration of the Pioneer LD train or maybe work with Oregon and Washington state about concepts for a Portland to Boise day train.
Kansas - micro grant of $87,563 for PE and final design for improvements of the Lawrence, KS station.
Nevada - $640 thousand for a state rail plan. There is also a $500 thousand grant for advanced planning of a integrated HSR network in CA, NV, and AZ. Could lay groundwork for real plans to extend the CA HSR system to Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Lots of useful smaller awards on the list. Could have done a lot more for NY, NC, NJ & the NEC, the Midwest if the FY10 funding level had been $4 billion which is what the House passed.

afiggatt wrote:Michigan - $7.9 million for West Detroit Junction track project for CTC signals, 1.34 miles of new connection track, bridge replacement to fix an intersection of CSAO and CN lines. According t the Michigan application, this will improve passenger rail travel times by 10 minutes between Dearborn and Detroit. However, like the $308 million Chi-Det Kalamazoo-Dearborn application for the NS tracks, it is about 1/2 of the requested $14.6 million funding. Try again next year or are there other pots of federal funding Michigan can apply for to fill in the rest?

This project is being funded with FY09 Appropriations funding (not ARRA), so it requires a 50% non-federal match. They submitted an application for the FY09 money, so presumably they have some idea where it is going to come from.

mkellerm wrote:This project is being funded with FY09 Appropriations funding (not ARRA), so it requires a 50% non-federal match. They submitted an application for the FY09 money, so presumably they have some idea where it is going to come from.

I see my mistake. There are 2 Michigan applications linked to in earlier posts in this thread for the same project: a FY10 application asking for $14.6 million of HSIPR funds with 20% matching and FY09 remaining funds application for $7.9 million of federal funds and 50% matching. So the 50% matching was granted. Reading the applications, if they can reduce Wolverine travel times by 10 minutes and clear a major bottleneck for freight trains for only $15.8 million total, that is a bargain.