07.30.09

Durbin: Senate Committee Approves Over $27 Million in Transportation and Economic Development Funding for Illinois

[WASHINGTON, DC] - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $27,004,744 in federal funding for Illinois transportation and economic development projects.

 

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 appropriations bill for the Department of Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations includes funding for the following projects:

 

Department of Transportation

 

Federal Transit Administration:

 

• CTA Circle Line, Chicago: $2,000,000 in funding to advance the Circle Line. The project, which is currently in Alternatives Analysis, will connect the existing CTA Orange Line near Ashland with the existing Pink Line Cermak Branch near 18th Street. It will also connect CTA Red and Brown Lines near North/Clybourn and add new CTA and Metra transfer stations along new and existing CTA tracks.

 

• CTA Ravenswood Brown Line, Chicago: $304,744 in funding for capacity expansion and station rehabilitation along the Brown Line. This funding is part of the Full Funding Grant Agreement signed in 2003.

 

• CTA Red Line North Rehabilitation, Chicago: $10,000,000 in funding for major rehabilitation of the north end of the CTA Red Line, which is one of the worst segments of the CTA system.

 

• Illinois Bus and Bus Facilities, Statewide: $4,000,000 in funding to purchase of new buses and the modernization and construction of bus facilities in areas outside of the RTA service region. This year, IDOT has identified almost $32 million in capital needs for downstate transit systems. The annual transit formula funding programs are not enough to meet these needs.

 

• Metra, Northeastern Illinois: $2,000,000 in funding for preliminary engineering on METRA's Union Pacific Northwest, Union Pacific West, Suburban Transit Access Route (STAR) and SouthEast Service Lines.

 

Surface Transportation Program

 

• Knoxville Road, Mercer County: $500,000 in funding for the reconstruction and improvement of Knoxville Road. The Knoxville Road in Mercer County runs across the northeast corner of the County from Rock Island County to Henry County, carrying the second largest volume of traffic in the entire County. The road does not meet current construction and safety standards.

 

Federal Railroad Administration:

 

• Railway-Highway Grade Crossing Mitigation, Galesburg: $3,000,000 in funding to accelerate the City’s efforts to build rail-road grade separations at East Main, West Main and Seminary streets.

 

• Railway-Highway Grade Crossing Mitigation, Northeastern Illinois: $2,000,000 in funding to help communities along the EJ&E improve safety along at-grade railroad crossings experiencing significant increases in freight traffic

 

• PEERS Rail-Grade Crossing Safety, Illinois: $500,000 in funding for the PEERS program to improve rail-grade crossing safety through education and enforcement initiatives. An Illinois Commerce Commission report quantitatively demonstrated the effectiveness of the PEERS program in improving safety at highway-rail crossings, detailing how the program helped reduce fatalities along a Union Pacific line by 56.5% in two years.

 

Federal Aviation Administration:

 

• Southern Illinois University Airport, Carbondale: $800,000 in funding to construct an Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting Building and Snow Removal facility. This building will bring the firefighting equipment closer to the midpoint of the air carrier runway, permitting a quicker response time, and consolidate five widely-spread facilities currently being used by the airport's fire and snow removal crews.

 

• Quad Cities International Airport, Moline: $500,000 in funding for runway reconstruction and extension. The project will rebuild and extend the airport's main runway.

 

Department Of Housing And Urban Development (Economic Development Initiatives)

 

• East Springfield Redevelopment, Springfield: $350,000 in funding for the acquisition of abandoned properties and the upgrade of infrastructure on the East Side of Springfield.

 

• Danville Neighborhood Improvement Program, Danville: $350,000 in funding for the acquisition, demolition and redevelopment of dilapidated and abandoned structures in Danville. These buildings have brought down home values in the community, increased the potential for criminal activity, and have created a safety risk in the City.

 

• Peoria Glen Oak and Southern Gateway Neighborhoods Improvement, Peoria: $250,000 in funding for critical public infrastructure improvements around the Glen Oak Community School and Harrison Community School. The two schools are the anchors for their respective neighborhoods. The proposed improvements will help to stabilize and revitalize the area.

 

• Quincy Neighborhood Stabilization Expansion Program, Quincy: $200,000 in funding to expand the City's efforts to acquire blighted residential properties and produce affordable housing and facilitate mixed-use development.

 

• Rockford West Side Economic Development Initiative, Rockford: $250,000 in funding for the development of a 57-acre parcel located at the corner of West State and Springfield Ave. -- the mixed-use development would include a senior living facility, an immediate care facility, a private ambulance service and a fire training facility --and for road, sewer, utility and stormwater upgrades.