WisDot wins CRISI grant to improve freight, passenger rail in MKE
11/1/2024
By Julie Sneider, Senior Editor
Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose visited Milwaukee yesterday to officially announce the award of a $72.8 million grant to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), which will use the funds for the long-planned Muskego Freight Rail Yard Bypass project to reconfigure existing tracks and a rail yard along Canadian Pacific Kansas City’s corridor in Milwaukee.
The Muskego Rail Yard project is among 122 rail improvement projects in 41 states and Washington, D.C., selected for funding this week through the FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. Projects in this round of selections reflect the broad array of rail safety and service improvements eligible under this program, such as upgrading track, replacing or rehabilitating aging bridges, expanding rail connections at ports, and adding modern locomotives to fleets, FRA officials said Oct. 29 in a press release.
Bose was among federal, state, local, CPKC and Amtrak officials to attend the grant award ceremony at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. In his remarks, the FRA administrator said the Muskego Yard initiative is key for future rail growth in Wisconsin. The project calls for establishing a new double-track mainline through the Muskego Rail Yard, which will allow freight trains to bypass the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, where Amtrak trains serve its Empire, Hiawatha and Borealis routes. The project also is expected to result in fewer trains crossing streets in Milwaukee, improve rail safety, and reduce congestion between freight and passenger trains operating in the area.
Amtrak will provide $7 million in matching funds to the CRISI grant. Amtrak President Roger Harris noted that the rail yard part of the project will increase capacity for Amtrak trains at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.
Following is a video of Bose’s remarks delivered at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station. Bose is shown speaking while standing next to WisDOT Deputy Secretary Scott Lawry (center) and Amtrak President Roger Harris (right).