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Union Pacific Railroad plans to spend about $6.5 million to upgrade a more than 14-mile line from Broadwater to near Northport, Neb.

The project calls for removing and installing rail and renewing surfaces at 14 grade crossings.

The trackwork is part of UP’s $3.3 billion capital spending budget for 2011.

Meanwhile, UP continues to repair track damaged by massive floods in Missouri and a severe drought in Texas.

High temperatures and drought conditions have compromised the railroad’s track structure in central Texas, causing the clay-based soil to crack and ballast to shift or fall in cracks. UP has deployed additional engineering resources to complete necessary track repairs.

If the area receives a moderate amount of rainfall over the next few weeks, operations on the damaged lines could improve by mid- to late August, said UP Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales Jack Koraleski in a letter to customers dated Aug. 1.

“If the severe drought continues, we most likely won't see significant improvements until sometime in September,” he wrote.