CREATE update: Several projects proceed to funding, engineering or construction stage
10/6/2022
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
The ongoing Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program has a lot going on of late.
Two firms have been lined up to provide design and engineering services for key projects, a contractor is sought to perform preliminary signal design services for two vital track and bridge projects, a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for a major flyover and an influx of federal dollars is on the way to help fund significant viaduct upgrades.
Launched in 2003 and estimated to cost more than $4 billion, the CREATE program involves 70 rail and road improvement projects in the Chicagoland area, including grade separations, additional tracks, highway bridges and signal upgrades. The program is managed by a public-private partnership that includes the following partners: BNSF Railway Co., Canadian Pacific, CN, CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Belt Railway Co. of Chicago (BRC), Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, Amtrak, Metra, Association of American Railroads (AAR), Cook County, U.S. Department of Transportation, and Illinois and Chicago departments of transportation.
To date, 33 projects have been completed; four are under construction; eight are in the final design phase; seven are in the environmental review stage; and 18 are still in the early planning stages, according to the AAR.
Another key project is poised to bump up the “under construction” count. On Oct. 24, program officials plan to break ground on the Forest Hill Flyover (CREATE project P3).
Part of the larger 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project, P3 involves the construction of a long north-south bridge to significantly reduce conflicts between CSX, BRC, Metra and NS trains. The 75th Street project also includes a grade separation at 71st Street, the Belt Junction and 80th Street Junction replacements, the Rock Island connection and viaduct improvements.
Many CREATE projects will help Metra improve commuter-rail service by avoiding bottlenecks. Shown: Metra’s staging yard near downtown Chicago. CREATE ProgramTo be built adjacent to CSX’s Forest Hill Yard at 75th Street, the flyover will rise as high as 23 feet and stretch well more than 100 feet, freeing up tracks at the busy Belt Junction. Granite Construction previously won a $205 million contract to serve as the construction manager for the flyover and 71st Street grade separation (CREATE project GS19).
The Forest Hills Flyover will eliminate the Chicago area’s most congested rail chokepoint, CREATE partners say. Each day, 30 Metra and 90 freight trains cross paths at the junction. For example, the bridge will eliminate conflicts between 30 Metra SouthWest Service and 35 CSX trains operating on the Western Avenue Corridor.
Another CREATE project that aims to ease freight train bottlenecks is advancing in the design phase. UP recently selected HDR to provide final track design and engineering services for the UP-led portion of the 80th Street Junction Replacements (CREATE project EW2).
The project involves the construction of seven bridges and the relocation of two UP mainline tracks in the area. To be performed on Chicago’s south side along two passenger- and four freight-rail lines, the work will address conflicts between BRC, CSX, NS, UP and Metra trains.
HDR will provide engineering designs for the relocation of the two UP tracks between 80th Street and CP Oakdale, and the construction of a connector track and seven new bridges from 80th Street to CP Oakdale.
The BRC is involved in assigning engineering work for the EW2 project, as well. The short line recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) for preliminary signal design services for both the EW2 and P2 projects. The P2 project calls for building a flyover to connect Metra’s SouthWest Service line with its Rock Island District line.
Both the EW2 and P2 projects involve reconfiguring and constructing additional tracks through the 80th Street Junction, building a rail flyover on a new alignment and constructing a second through track for Metra along Columbus Avenue. Other work includes improvements to existing tracks, signals, bridges, retaining walls and viaducts.
The projects will help reduce rail-to-rail conflicts, ease local mobility problems and improve passenger-rail service, CREATE officials say.
Proposals submitted to the BRC through the RFP are due by Nov. 11. The short line expects to select a preliminary signal designer in December. The chosen firm will interface with other railroads and their consultants that are designing the track and structural infrastructure.
The construction schedules for EW2 and P2 have yet to be determined, said BRC Chief Engineer Scott Schiemann in an email.
“We do not have all that information yet. That is part of what is being developed in this RFP,” he said.
Meanwhile, NS recently selected Benesch to provide final track design services for Segment B of the Pullman Junction improvements (CREATE Project EW3). The project is designed to improve infrastructure located near the intersection of South Stony Island Avenue and East 95th Street to increase train speeds and improve railroads’ operational flexibility.
Currently, dozens of freight trains traversing the area each day must slowly navigate existing BRC yard tracks.
CREATE partners snagged a substantial federal grant for Ogden Junction improvements. The project involves a portion of a UP mainline along Western Avenue. CREATE ProgramBenesch will begin engineering additional track infrastructure along a two-mile segment from the BRC’s Commercial Yard through Pullman Junction. The project involves an additional mainline track, other track and signal changes.
The EW3 project’s future Segment A calls for realigning track and upgrading signals at the north end of NS’ Calumet Yard, where NS track connects to a BRC line. The segment also includes construction of a second NS track through the junction, replacement of hand-thrown yard switches with power-operated switches and the installation of a sound wall.
Another planned CREATE project is making some headway, too. In September, program partners learned they landed a $70 million grant from the U.S Department of Transportation through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or INFRA program to help fund the Ogden Junction (CREATE project WA1).
The $170 million project along the Westside Avenue Corridor calls for improving a 1.9 mile-long segment of UP’s line along the route between Kedzie Avenue and 16th Street. The work includes replacing 14 of 18 viaducts, rehabbing two viaducts and removing two others so all viaducts and bridges are upgraded to modern design standards.
The project also includes 10,000 feet of new track, signal improvements, the installation of a new bi-directional computerized traffic control system, upgrading seven hand-thrown switches to power switches, additional control points and a mainline realignment.
The control points, mainline realignment and signalization will support simultaneous train movements between UP, CSX and NS mainlines, and allow train speeds to be increased to 25 mph.
The area between the Kedzie Interlocking and Ogden Junction currently isn’t signalized, so train hand-offs are communicated verbally, resulting in slow train movements. The enhancements are designed to enable trains to be managed by a single UP dispatcher, who would be in charge of all operations within the project limits.
