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9/27/2022
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation will award $8 million in grants and loans for five freight-rail improvement projects across the state, Gov. Tony Evers announced yesterday.
The projects being funded will lengthen rail spurs, install conveyance equipment and increase storage capacity, WisDOT officials said in a press release.
Grants awarded through the state's Freight Railroad Preservation Program (FRPP) contribute up to 80% of project costs to help preserve freight-rail service and rehabilitate track on publicly owned rail lines.
"This round of grants will bolster how the state’s agriculture and paper industries move products from point A to B, supporting industry growth and success across the state," said Evers.
The state’s Freight Railroad Infrastructure Improvement Program (FRIIP) is a revolving loan program used to improve rail infrastructure and construct new rail-served facilities.
Recipients of the FRPP grants and FRIIP loans include:
• Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. near Boscobel. The company will receive a $1.4 million FRPP grant and $179,725 FRIIP loan to replace an old timber trestle structure near Boscobel on the Prairie subdivision. The new steel and concrete structure will allow for trail accommodations underneath for local pedestrian and bicycle connectivity. The funding will also help lengthen a rail spur;
• Rio Creek Feed Mill in Luxemburg. The $1.5 million FRIIP loan will be used for a project to improve the efficiency of a rail-car loading and unloading facility. The facility is served by the Fox Valley & Lake Superior Railroad;
• Northside elevator in Stanley. The $3 million FRIIP loan will fund construction of 6,878 feet of track for a new rail-served agronomy and feed terminal in Stanley on CN's Minneapolis subdivision. This project will be the first phase of a multiphase, multiyear site buildout;
• McDonald Cos., Green Bay. The $492,791 FRIIP loan will help fund reconstruction of 521 feet of spur track that will serve a warehouse. Reinstallation will allow McDonald's tenant Quincy Recycled Paper to transport recycled fiber by rail to Green Bay Packaging’s new paper mill and other Wisconsin mills; and
• DeLong Co. at the Port of Milwaukee. A $1.5 million FRIIP loan will fund installation of conveyance equipment at a new rail-served grain terminal at the port. Dried distiller grains are expected to be transported by rail from Iowa and Minnesota.