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CSX Transportation recently completed a two-year, $21.7 million track and crossing improvement project in Blue Island, Ill., designed to increase capacity and train speed in the Chicago area.

The project included rebuilding three crossings at Blue Island Junction, an area where eight rail lines — owned by CSXT, Canadian National Railway Co. and Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. — come together.

CSXT also built one mile of mainline track from its Barr Yard in Riverdale, Ill., to Broadway Avenue, and replaced several interlockings and installed five new switches to enable trains to increase speed up to 30 mph.

"[The] project will allow trains to move through the junction more quickly, which will improve rail efficiency in the area," said Pete Sitavich, CSXT's Blue Island project manager, in a prepared statement.

During construction, CSXT officials worked with Chicago Transportation Coordination Office representatives to reduce scheduling conflicts for Blue Island-area trains.