The state of Rail in Illinois, Joe Shacter, IDOT, November 2014 Luncheon, CMAA

1. Construction management association of
america
November 21, 2014

2.  Our Current Vision – Creating Passenger Rail Corridors in the
Midwest
 Chicago-St. Louis progress report
 Chicago-St. Louis
 Joliet Station
 Chicago-Rockford
 Chicago-Moline
 Locomotive and Railcar Procurement
 Other Studies
 CREATE Update
 Contracting opportunities
 Q&A

4.  $1.3 billion in federal
grants
 $400+ million in state
funds
 Overall trip time
reduction to 4.5
hours by end of 2017
 new locomotives and
railcars beginning in
2016

5.  rail and concrete ties installed from Joliet
to Alton
 Dwight-Pontiac segment now operating
at 110 mph
 110 mph to expand in two phases: End of
’15 and end of ‘17
 Work in 2014-17 concentrating on:
 new sidings to add capacity
 Installation of positive train control
 Improvements at 200+ grade
crossings

6.  review of all grade crossings
by ICC and IDOT
 FRA approval
 Quad gates at most crossings
with dual gates at farm and
pedestrian-only crossings
 grade crossing closures when
possible

7.  $50 million project
 Metra Rock Island service relocated
east of bnsf intersection with UP
 New parking lot completed
 Amtrak and Metra trains to be
served by center platform
 New station to be east of all tracks
 Historic station will be maintained
as event space
 Completion by summer 2016
No more passenger
crossings of live freight
tracks!

8.  Chicago-Rockford-Dubuque
 state made decision to move
to “northern” route on UP
 1 daily round-trip to begin by
end of ‘15
 Service upgraded in ‘16
 Goal is to complete route from
Rockford to Dubuque
 Plan is for $233 million budget
to be funded entirely by state
 Chicago-Moline
 Construction has begun
between Chicago and Wyanet
 increased investment by State
from $45 to $78 million,
leveraging $177 million federal
grant
 New Moline station now in
design; received Tiger grant
 Segment between Wyanet and
Moline owned by Iowa
Interstate Railroad; construction
planned to start in early ‘15
 all new locomotives and railcars

9.  Railcars
 Bi-level cars being built by
Nippon-Sharyo
 Now in final design
 deliveries begin summer
2016
 Key feature: Crash-Energy
Management (CEM)
 Goal: equip as many
corridors as possible in
Midwest with new
equipment
 Locomotives
 IDOT led procurement
 Awarded to Siemens
 Up to 30 locomotives
coming
 First deliveries in ’17
 Will be capable of running
up to 125 mph
 Will meet USEPA Tier 4
emissions criteria

10.  Chi-Stl Tier 2 Environmental studies:
 Chicago-Joliet Tier 2 EIS
 Springfield Flyover Tier 2 EA
 Granite City-St. Louis Tier 2 EIS
 These studies will put state in position to compete for
design/construction funding
 Quad Cities-Danville feasibility study
 More Chicago-Champaign round-trips
 Grant application filed with FRA for Chicago
terminal planning study

11.  Will they come?
 Consider this:
 2007: more daily round-trips—with no other
improvements—led to phenomenal ridership growth over
the last 7years
 Total ridership on state-supported trains: Up from 948,000 to
1,975,000!
 Imagine ridership gains with faster travel times, more
reliable service, and new equipment
 And, wifi now available on all midwest trains!

14. • 25 road/rail grade
separations
• 6 passenger/freight rail
grade separations
• 36 railroad projects to
improve rail infrastructure
and upgrade technologies
• Viaduct improvement
program
• Grade crossing safety
enhancements
• Rail operations and visibility
improvements

15. Completed Projects 23
Under Construction 8
Final Design 5
Environmental Review 13
Remaining Projects 21
TOTAL 70

16. Modeling efforts did not include 110
program, but…
 CREATE “preserves the footprint”
for 110
 Some projects improve existing
AMTRAK service on 110 corridors
 Some projects improve crossing
routes
 Example: CREATE will permit 30
Metra Southwest Service
trains/day to move to LaSalle St
Station, freeing up Union Station
slots for HSIPR usage

17. Chicago – Detroit
 “Englewood Flyover” at right
 Bridge now “flies” Metra Rock
Island District commuter rail
over Norfolk-Southern main line
that also hosts Amtrak Michigan
service
 helps Amtrak’s other Eastern
routes
 And it eliminates another
crossing
Add P1 mockup

19. • Eliminated the at-grade
crossing of the BNSF tracks
at Belmont Road (County
Route 2) by constructing an
underpass for motor
vehicles. Metra Commuter
Rail
 and Amtrak also operate
on these tracks. Belmont
Road now consists of two
lanes of traffic in
 either direction, with a
tunnel for
pedestrians on
the west side of
Belmont Road
• Eliminated at-grade
crossing of BNSF tracks
at Belmont Rd. – road
underpass
• Built a tunnel for
pedestrians
Eliminated road/rail
conflict

22. • Eliminate the at-grade crossings
of the two Norfolk Southern
main tracks with 130th Street
and Torrence Ave.
• Existing bridge carrying two
NICTD South Shore Line
commuter rail tracks over NS
tracks and Torrence Ave. re-built
• Eliminate conflict between
railroad and access to Ford Plant
• To be completed in July 2015
Will eliminate
road-rail conflicts

26. Single Largest Funding Advancement in CREATE History
 $211 M from state
 $155 M from the CREATE Partner Railroads
 $10.4 M in Federal TIGER IV funding
 Will design/construct GS6 at 25th Avenue in Bellwood/Maywood
 Upgrade 11 City Viaducts
 Will allow all railway infrastructure components of CREATE’s
Western Avenue, and East-West Corridors to be completed
 with the exception of the mega-project at 75th St. in Chicago to
reconfigure Belt Junction

27.  $40-$50 million in grade crossing improvement contracts
to be awarded by IDOT over next three years
 Critical for firms to become prequalified by the railroads
 DBE goals will be set by IDOT based on trades and project
location
 Probable trades: Pavement removal, grading, placement
of base course, paving (asphalt or concrete), signs, pipe
removal and placement, curb & gutter, electrical (lighting
& traffic signals), fencing, and landscaping (topsoil, seed,
& mulch)

28.  And while Union Pacific Railroad must abide by its
contract with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of
Way for track and tie work…
 13 DBE firms under contract with UP for other work
 $42.1 million awarded to date to DBE contractors
 $275-300 million to be awarded over next three years,
with DBE goals to be set by IDOT

29.  Notices of upcoming work and letting information are
posted to project website with links to IDOT, Work 4
Illinois, UPRR, Amtrak and local agency websites.
 Program has held six outreach events to encourage
DBE contractor participation.
 Interested parties can sign-up on the project website
(www.idothsr.org) for broadcast email notifications
of upcoming opportunities.
 Twenty eight broadcast E-mail notifications sent to date.

30. Joe Shacter – Director of Public and Intermodal
Transportation
Joseph.shacter@illinois.gov