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Yesterday, the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) announced it issued a notice to proceed for a $12.3 million project calling for upgrades to Norfolk Southern Corp.’s track and yard in Toledo. Under a public-private partnership, about half of the project’s cost will be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with the remainder covered by ORDC, the Ohio Department of Development and NS.

The project includes the construction of new track and signals, and installation of new yard equipment and machinery.

NS’ Airline Yard handles intermodal traffic, but has not been able to operate at peak capacity because of heavy rail traffic moving through the facility, which is located on one of the nation’s busiest freight-rail corridors, according to ORDC. The yard also is near a major junction for trains traveling to and from Detroit. Because of congestion at the junction, many intermodal trains bypass Toledo for other Midwestern intermodal facilities.

“This project streamlines our intermodal operations in Toledo and improves the efficiency of Airline Yard,” said NS Vice President of Intermodal Operations Bob Huffman in a prepared statement. “With the anticipated demand to move freight by rail nearly doubling over the next 20 years, these public-private partnerships benefit our nation’s transportation infrastructure.”