Nebraska rail safety district hopes FRA grant comes through for BNSF viaduct project in Lincoln

By Julie Sneider, Senior Editor 

A proposed $120 million railroad improvement project in Lincoln, Nebraska, is set to transform the flow of freight through the city as well as improve safety for motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and rail employees in a high-traffic area. 

The 33rd Street and Cornhusker Highway Intersection Improvement Project calls for construction of a new viaduct over the rail corridor along the highway. When completed, the new structure will result in the elimination of grade crossings on BNSF Railway Co.’s track on North 33rd and Adams streets.  

The project is part of the Railroad Transportation Safety District’s (RTSD) work to make corrections at railroad crossings in order to save lives. The Nebraska State Legislature created the district in 1971 to improve safety and reduce conflicts between railroads and all other modes of transportation vehicles and pedestrians, according to RTSD Executive Director Roger Figard.  

The RTSD is a unique entity in that it focuses solely on improving rail crossing safety in Lincoln and Lancaster County — and it has taxing authority to raise revenue for the funding of such projects. The legislation was introduced to reduce a “shocking” number of accidents at grade crossings, according to the Lincoln city website. Between 1952 and 1968, 55 people died and 57 were injured in accidents involving trains at grade crossings in the Lincoln area, according to the city. Eventually, the state legislation was extended indefinitely, and localities can create such districts when deemed necessary. 

“For over 50 years, the RTSD has worked closely with the railroads — BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad, primarily — the city of Lincoln and Lancaster County to do projects that improve safety along these railroad corridors and across arterial streets and a number of grade crossings,” says Figard, a former engineer for the city of Lincoln. “There's a long history of coordination, cooperation and getting projects done, and this project at 33rd and Cornhusker is just the next important, highest priority project to eliminate two at-grade crossings and build a viaduct over the track to reduce those conflicts.” 

Over the past 37 years, 20 crashes with six fatalities and three injuries have occurred at those two crossings, according to the city. 

“We feel fairly strongly that this is the kind of infrastructure the new administration will support and that this [FRA] grant will probably come through.” — Roger Figard, Railroad Transportation Safety District Railroad Transportation Safety District

“The project at this location would eliminate over a million exposure possibilities every day,” says Figard. “There's over 20,000 cars traveling those two arterial streets and almost 50 trains a day.” 

RTSD President Rick Vest, a Lancaster County Board commissioner, has seen first-hand what happens when automobiles and pedestrians interact with trains at grade crossings. During his 40-year career at Burlington Northern Railroad (now BNSF Railway), Vest investigated many accidents where cars or people were on the tracks when they encountered an oncoming train. 

“I understand the seriousness of those situations,” says Vest. 

He appreciates the opportunity to transform transportation patterns through the city by eliminating the two crossings. The BNSF currently carries about 48 trains a day on the double-track mainline that crosses North 33rd and Adams streets.  

According to city officials, vehicular traffic is blocked at each of the two crossings for 3.5 hours per day, causing frustration for drivers — especially emergency responders on their way to 9-1-1 calls. 

Besides improving safety, the project would accommodate existing and future traffic by reducing congestion along roadways that cross the rail corridor; and improve mobility and connectivity across the corridor in north Lincoln.  

A tale of two presidents and an FRA grant 

The project’s $120 million price tag would be funded by a number of sources. Potentially, the biggest source is a $66.7 million grant the Federal Railroad Administration announced in early January. The federal dollars would cover about 58% of the project’s cost and represent the largest federal grant the city and RTSD have ever received. 

However, whether the FRA will follow through with the funding is now uncertain. President Joe Biden’s FRA team announced the grant in early January, then days after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, the new administration announced a pause on federal grants, loans and financial assistance. Trump officials said at the time they wanted to make sure the funding is consistent with the president’s priorities, such as eliminating anything to do with diversity, equity and inclusion. Within days of that announcement, lawsuits over the freeze were filed and are pending. And while the Trump administration has rescinded parts of the funding freeze, confusion over the status of those federal dollars continues.  

The FRA under Biden confirmed the Lincoln/BNSF grade crossing elimination project qualified for the grant, but the city and RTSD have actions to complete before they receive the money. As a result, RTSD and the FRA don’t yet have a signed grant agreement. In the meantime, the RTSD is working on completing its environmental assessment document and other tasks necessary to meet the FRA grant agreement requirements. 

“We are optimistic but still waiting for additional information coming from Washington,” says Figard. “We feel fairly strongly that this is the kind of infrastructure the new administration will support and that this grant will probably come through.” 

If it doesn’t, the city and RTSD will still go ahead with the project, says Figard. The project tops the RTSD’s current list of railroad safety improvements. 

As of now, $48 million of the project’s $120 million cost will come from the city, RTSD, BNSF and Nebraska Department of Transportation. The RTSD already has contributed $5.2 million to cover the cost of preliminary design, environmental approval and community input sessions. The city’s contribution will come from its “Lincoln on the Move” quarter-cent sales tax program, which funds infrastructure projects. 

Currently, the railroad safety project is in the planning, environmental analysis and preliminary engineering phase, which is scheduled to end in 2027. Construction is expected to begin in 2028, with an opening date estimated for late 2031. Planning in preparation for the project has been going on for at least eight years. 

The RTSD, Lancaster County and city of Lincoln have a long history of working with BNSF, according to Figard. 

“This [project] would be the next major achievement along the primary BNSF corridor through northeast to southwest Lincoln, where we have systematically been going through and building viaducts over Class I railroads on our arterial streets,” he says. “It’s important that it’s part of a corridor of improvements in safety, not just a one-off effort in a particular location.” 

BNSF is on board with the project because it helps reduce its liability for vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic regularly crossing its tracks.  

“We also try to work closely with railroads in the urban areas,” adds Figard. “You can build up and over track, but sometimes you still have trouble leading pedestrians where they ought to go. So, we work with railroads to address potential trespass issues in a corridor, trying to make it reasonably safe and accommodating for pedestrians and bicycles by providing multi-use paths” that lead to a viaduct. 

Since the RTSD was founded, the district has closed more than 100 grade crossings in Lincoln and Lancaster County, built dozens of viaducts over rail tracks and provided a local funding share when the city or county have been awarded federal aid to build viaducts, bridges and install gates and lights. 

“We’re unique in that the RTSD’s funding and revenue is very focused and directed toward railroad transportation safety,” says Figard.