BNSF assembles team to help communities advance safety projects

BNSF Railway Co. announced yesterday it recently formed a public infrastructure and investments team to help local communities and public agencies advance safety infrastructure projects across the Class I's 28-state network.

Through the new team, BNSF is ready to assist eligible applicants apply for recently announced federal grants to improve grade-crossing safety across the United States, BNSF officials said in a press release.

The Class I's public infrastructure and investment teams have a history of working with public partners to secure funding for mutually beneficial infrastructure projects.

For example, the city of Flagstaff, Arizona, and BNSF worked together in 2022 to secure funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highways Projects (INFRA) program, part of the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant (MPDG) program, for the Flagstaff Downtown Mile Safety and Connectivity Improvements Project.

Once completed, the project will deliver several multimodal transportation-safety improvements, including those for freight- and passenger-rail service, infrastructure,  pedestrian safety, community connectivity and construction impact mitigations.

"Enhanced safety measures like pedestrian gates, signaling, signage and multimodal pedestrian underpasses will help reduce incidents and bring awareness to the community about the importance of railroad safety," said Christine Cameron, Flagstaff's senior project manager of capital improvements.

BNSF's public infrastructure and investment team can assist with project identification, grant writing and solicitation of letters of support to highlight a project's importance, BNSF officials said.

"We believe in collaborating on infrastructure projects that enhance the safety, economic and social well-being of our communities and networks," said French Thompson, BNSF general director of public infrastructure and investments.