By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
Now in its 20th year, the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program keeps chugging along even though the final destination isn’t necessarily in sight.
Launched in 2003, the program involves 70 projects designed to separate freight and passenger trains at six key junctions; eliminate about two dozen grade crossings; and increase rail capacity, speed and reliability in the Chicago area. One of every four freight trains moving in the Unites States passes through Chicago, and about 500 freight and 800 passenger/commuter trains travel in or throughout the city each day.
The program is managed by a public-private partnership that includes Amtrak, the Association of American Railroads (AAR), BNSF Railway Co., the Belt Railway Co. of Chicago (BRC), the Chicago and Illinois departments of transportation, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, CN, Cook County, CSX, Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. (IHB), Metra, Norfolk Southern Railway and Union Pacific Railroad.
To date, the program is more than halfway complete. Among the 70 projects, 33 are completed, 19 are in various stages of design or construction and 18 (mostly grade separations) are in early planning phases.
A number of new bridges and overpasses are included in CREATE. The public-private partnership program now is 20 years old.
CREATE Program’s Flickr accountThe various partners remain very committed to completing all 70 projects, and still are engaged and invested in the program, says the AAR’s Bill Thompson, the chief engineer of the CREATE Program.
“All of the partners have a unique relationship, and there is a lot of trust,” he says.
Including federal and state grants and contributions from partners, about $2 billion has been spent so far on program projects. The entire program now is expected to cost about $3.2 billion, but that figure is adjusted annually depending on current costs, such as materials and labor, says Thompson. For example, the cost of structural steel continues to rise, he adds.
A done deal
In terms of a completed work milestone, CREATE partners late last year capped off the last of the 18 projects situated along the program’s north-south Belt Corridor, which runs from Bryn Mawr to near Thornton, Illinois. That final piece — known as the Argo Connections (CREATE project B9) — involved the construction of a new double-track connection and crossovers between the BRC and IHB/CSX line at Archer Avenue and 63rd Street.
Currently, a lot of other work is underway or will start soon on the north-south Western Avenue Corridor, which runs from the Rockwell Connection to near South Holland. For example, CREATE projects WA1 and WA11 will start next year, says Thompson.
To be performed at Ogden Junction, WA1 calls for improving a 1.9-mile-long segment of UP’s line along Rockwell Avenue between Fulton and 16th streets. Work involves replacing 14 of 18 viaducts, rehabbing two viaducts and removing two viaducts.
Meanwhile, WA11 involves the Dolton Interlocking, where CSX, UP and IHB lines cross. The project calls for upgrading and reconfiguring connections for the three railroads, replacing a NS connection between the IHB and CSX, and building a third main line between two mainline IHB tracks.
A total of 25 grade separations are planned to eliminate dangerous grade crossings along program corridors. CREATE Program’s Flickr accountThe Passenger Corridor in and around Chicago remains an active one for CREATE, as well. A major project — the Forest Hill Flyover (P3) — began along the corridor in late 2022. It’s the program’s largest project to date.
Work on P3 started in conjunction with the 71st Street grade separation (GS19), which calls for eliminating a CSX crossing at that location.
Estimated to jointly cost $380 million, P3 and GS19 are the first two of four components included in CREATE’s 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project. Granite Construction Co. is the contractor for both projects.
The Forest Hill Flyover involves the construction of a bridge to eliminate conflicts between north-south and east-west train movements at Forest Hill Junction. By eliminating conflicts between BRC, CSX, NS and Metra trains at the location, the flyover will greatly improve freight fluidity. The accompanying grade separation will resolve train, motorist, pedestrian and bicyclist conflicts at the crossing.
“The flyover is a huge project. It will take CSX’s north-south line over NS, Metra and the BRC,” says Thompson. “There are four tracks involved.”
The flyover is scheduled for completion in mid-2025, but that’s only when operations will start. It likely will take another year to remove old tracks, perform final grading and landscaping, and wrap up other work, Thompson says.
In the meantime, project GS11 — which calls for eliminating a BRC crossing on Columbus Avenue by constructing an overpass or underpass — will start next year along both the Passenger and East-West corridors. About 11,500 vehicles pass through the crossing each day.
Foggy finish line
Although a lot of projects are in the design or construction phases, and others are progressing in the preliminary stages, it’s difficult to pinpoint an overall completion timeframe for the program, says Thompson. There are too many moving parts at the moment, he stresses.
For now, the partners’ primary focus is continuing design work and advancing projects in the pipeline.
“Funding is still a challenge,” says Thompson, adding that it’s vital for the partners to continue to control costs and be good stewards with the government funds provided for work.
So far, the cost of all completed work has come in on or under budget.
One of the ongoing positives from the program is the strong relationships forged between CREATE partners and dozens of local communities and Chicago neighborhoods, says Thompson. People in the towns and neighborhoods are encouraged by what they’ve gained from the projects: new streets, bridges, sidewalks, bus stops and other infrastructure.
“They appreciate how the projects help fill their needs,” says Thompson.
