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10/6/2022
Norfolk Southern Railway has selected Benesch to provide final track design services for a Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) project to improve infrastructure located near South Stony Island Avenue and East 95th Street in Chicago.
When completed, CREATE Project EW3-Segment B will improve operational flexibility for railroads and allow trains to travel faster, CREATE and NS officials said in a press release.
CREATE's East-West Corridor is a critical freight-rail artery and affects network fluidity for hundreds of miles outside this project's limits, said Jeff Page, a planning engineer for NS.
"Dozens of daily freight trains traversing this location must slowly navigate existing Belt Railway Company of Chicago yard tracks — that will all change once this project is completed," Page said.
Benesch will begin engineering additional track infrastructure along a 2-mile segment from the BRC’s Commercial Yard in the vicinity of 9500 S. Commercial Ave., through Pullman Junction, and near 9500 S. Stony Island Ave. As proposed, the additional mainline track and other track and signal changes will allow for an increase in train speeds and greater operational flexibility throughout the rail corridor.
The CREATE program is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation, state of Illinois, Cook County, the city of Chicago, Association of American Railroads, Metra, Amtrak and many major freight railroads. A project of national significance, CREATE will invest billions in critically needed improvements to increase the efficiency of the region’s passenger- and freight-rail infrastructure.