Initiatives Seek Upgrades for Midwest Transit

by Craig Barner

A 22-in. snow in January 1999 in Chicago was the spark for an ambitious, $1.5 billion plan, the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program.

The blizzard snarled freight operations for "multiple days" locally and regionally, says Brian Steele, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation.

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"What was really notable was the need for more communication and coordination among the railroads in terms of their management but also their operations," Steele says.

The slowdown was more than a local issue because Chicago, as the nation's rail hub, has a major impact on the national economy. Illinois is the only state where each of the six Class I rail operators has track, and Chicago is the world's third busiest intermodal port-transfer point for cargo from one transportation method to another-after Hong Kong and Singapore.

Even without a snow emergency, cargo grinds through the Chicago area because of backups at rail junctions, large amount of car and train traffic and immense urban environment.

"It takes as long for freight to transit from California to Chicago as it does to get through the Chicago system," Steele adds.

The problem illustrates the state of infrastructure locally and nationwide.

Think of American cities, and what often comes to mind are gleaming towers, lively streets and picturesque waterfronts.

But there is the other side of urban America, too: crumbling roads and viaducts, rusted bridges, miles of traffic congestion, overwhelming car emissions and-as Chicago's freight-rail problem shows-poor or nonexistent planning.

The Chicago Transit Authority, for instance, has established slow zones for trains on some of its commuter lines because of aging tracks. Normal speeds in those areas would be unsafe, and the CTA lacks the funds for upgrades.
On the national level, the Reston, Va.-based American Society of Civil

Engineers sounded alarms in March 2005-earlier in the same year that Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans-when it gave the nation an overall D grade in its fifth Report Card for America's Infrastructure. The grade had declined from 2003, when a D+ was given. The ASCE estimated in the 2005 report that $1.6 trillion would be needed over five years to bring the nation's infrastructure into "good condition."

A panel of 24 of the nation's civil engineers determined the overall grades and grades in 15 infrastructure areas by analyzing studies, reports and other information sources, and surveying more than 2,000 engineers. (See the sidebar for more information.)

Critics might grumble that the civil engineering society was playing Chicken Little and acting out of economic self-interest by issuing the low grades. Nevertheless, there was action in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.

The National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 was introduced in the U.S. Senate in early March with bipartisan support. If enacted, the legislation would establish the National Commission on Infrastructure of the United States and plan improvements.
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With the idea of more planning needed for infrastructure, Midwest Construction recently sought details of two transit programs, CREATE and Wisconsin's proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter line.

CREATing, Solving Transit Headaches

Shortly after the January 1999 snow emergency, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley wrote a letter to the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency, about train and car congestion and the problems associated with it.

Meetings ensued between regional and national officials, a task force was established and CREATE was cobbled together in 2003. The partnership involves Chicago, the state of Illinois, the suburban Metra commuter railroad, Amtrak and the Class I railroads. Goals include reducing congestion, improving air quality and promoting economic development.

The program calls for 78 projects, including 31 involving "grade separation," the CDOT's Steele says. These entail constructing 25 roadway underpasses or overpasses where auto and pedestrian traffic cross railroad tracks at grade level and six rail overpasses or underpasses to separate passenger and freight tracks.

The other 47 projects comprise viaduct improvements, grade-crossing safety enhancements and upgrades of tracks, switches and signals.

"The public will never see some of the 78 projects-things that will have a benefit but maybe not so visible," Steele says. The perceptible grade-separations projects are the emphasis because they will have the most beneficial impact.

Projects are divided among five corridors, and most will affect the city and suburbs to the west, southwest and south.

Funding is the question mark. Formally, only $230 million has been received-$100 million from the federal government, $100 million from the railroads and $30 million from Chicago. A $100 million Illinois contribution is expected soon but not formally committed.

"Once (Illinois') capital plan is in place, we're confident the CREATE funding will be in there," Steele adds.

Thirty-two of the 78 projects are expected to be in design or construction by 2009, including a grade-separation project in design phase at 130th Street and Torrance Avenue in Chicago. If funding falls in place, the overall CREATE plan is projected to be done by the end of the 2010 decade.

CREATE's first grade-separation project will be complete this summer in northwest suburban Franklin Park on Grand Avenue, a thoroughfare handling 33,000 weekday commuters. The $44 million project included building a 30-ft underpass where Grand meets Canadian National Railway Co. track.

Only two of the four lanes have been opened in the underpass, but traffic flow has already improved, says Jeffrey Eder, Franklin Park community development director. "You can get through without having to wait on trains," he adds.

33-Mi Milwaukee Line?

Eliminating problems before they deteriorate further is the motivation of Wisconsin officials planning the proposed 33-mi-long Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line.

Part of the impetus for the $198 million project is to help relieve congestion expected to become a major issue in southeast Wisconsin soon, says Mike Fabishak, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of Greater Milwaukee. Plans call for the 30 mi of Interstate 94 between Milwaukee and the Illinois line to be reconstructed, as well as a re-do of the so-called Zoo Interchange-the crossroads of I-94, Interstate 894 and U.S. Highway 45-west of Brew City.

KRM planning started in 1998 when the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission initiated a feasibility study and found the proposal would be technically and financially feasible, says Rosemary Potter, executive director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Coalition for Transit NOW, a Sussex, Wis.-based nonprofit advocacy group. An environmental impact study is under way.

If built, the line would connect to the Metra's Union Pacific North Line that currently runs between Kenosha and the Loop.

"People are beginning to see the real value of a physical connection to Chicago and creating a regional economy that will attract businesses, connect businesses with a labor force and make this region more globally competitive," she adds.

The line would have nine stops on existing UP right-of-way and terminate in the Amtrak station in downtown Milwaukee, Potter says. Transit NOW estimates an annual ridership of 1.4 million with 14 round trips on weekdays and seven on weekends.

Major construction activity would include upgrading the track for additional trains, construction of seven stations and planning for shuttles between stations and city centers.

Plans call for about half the funding to come from the Federal Transit Administration's "New Start" grants, about 30 percent from other federal sources and the rest from the state, counties and cities in Wisconsin, Potter says.

"Because Wisconsin has never had commuter rail, we're never had a New Starts infusion," Potter adds. "We think we got a shot."

Construction could start in 2010 or 2011 and last 1.5 to two years.

SIDEBAR

Disintegrating Infrastructure

The Reston, Va.-based American Society of Civil Engineers released in 2005 its most recent Report Card for America's Infrastructure. The table below shows the group's letter grades by category and change from the
2001 report card:

Report Card for America's Infrastructure (Letter Grades by Category)
	2001	2005
Aviation	D	D+
Bridges	C	C
Dams	D	D
Drinking Water	D	D-
Energy	D+	D
Hazardous Waste	D+	D
Navigable Waterways	D+	D-
Public Parks	N/G*	C-
Rail	N/G	C-
Roads	D+	D
Schools	D-	D
Security	N/G	I**
Solid Waste	C+	C+
Transit	C-	D+
Wastewater	D	D-
Source: Reston, Va.-based American Society of Civil Engineers

*N/G=no grade given; **incomplete

SIDEBAR 2

What Else?

Other plans and proposals are being studied to upgrade the Midwest's transit infrastructure: