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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it finalized a grant agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) regarding five Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) projects.

The pact covers a $100 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant previously approved for IDOT and enables work to begin on the following projects: the construction of the Union Pacific third mainline-Proviso Yard; installation of a traffic control system at La Grange/Broadview; signalization of Blue Island Yard running tracks.; construction of a grade separation at an Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. and CSX Transportation grade crossing at 71st Street; and construction of 14 roadway/sidewalk/curb projects as part of a viaduct improvement program.

About 25 percent of the nation’s rail traffic travels through the Chicago region and the CREATE program aims to alleviate major bottlenecks along the area’s freight- and passenger-rail corridors. The public/private partnership program includes more than 46 rail and 25 grade separation projects that call for restructuring, modernizing and expanding Chicago’s rail network. CREATE partners include Amtrak, the Association of American Railroads, Belt Railway Co. of Chicago, BNSF Railway Co., CSXT, CN, Canadian Pacific, Indiana Harbor Belt, Norfolk Southern Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, IDOT and the Chicago DOT.

“CREATE’s success is America’s success,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo in a prepared statement. “By improving the flow of freight and people, rail traffic will move more safely and efficiently.”