The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently announced a funding opportunity that provides up to $50 million in grants for commuter rail agencies working to improve safety at railway-highway crossings.
The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020, appropriated $50 million to be awarded by the FHWA through the Commuter Authority Rail Safety Improvement (CARSI) Grants Program.
Under CARSI, the FHWA—in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA)—will provide competitive grants to commuter rail authorities working to eliminate hazards at railway-highway crossings. Eligible projects include those that separate or protect grades at crossings; rebuild existing railroad grade crossing structures; relocate highways to eliminate grade crossings; and eliminate hazards posed by blocked grade crossings due to idling trains.
“FRA is always working toward a benchmark of zero fatalities at railway crossings, and such safety improvements to our nation’s infrastructure will go a long way toward that goal,” Federal Railroad Administrator Ronald Batory said in a statement.
By statute, an eligible commuter authority must have experienced at least one accident investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2018, and for which the NTSB issued an accident report.
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SOURCE: Federal Highway Administration
