Two South Dakota short-line projects land federal grants

Two short-line improvement projects in South Dakota will receive Special Transportation Circumstances (STC) grants from the Federal Railroad Administration, the South Dakota Department of Transportation announced yesterday.

The department had proposed the projects, which upon completion will increase safety and efficiency for freight-rail service across the state, department officials said in a press release.

The two projects and the amounts of STC funding are:

• Ringneck & Western Railroad, $1.8 million, to construct two 1,500-foot transload tracks to transport lumber and aggregate, and construct a 558-foot industrial lead track and concrete maintenance pit in an existing locomotive maintenance building. Ancillary project work would include a loadout spur, six turnouts and a roadway for vehicular and transloading equipment access. The project will improve locomotive maintenance and provide an area to transload goods from rail to truck, improving efficiency for the products being moved and the area’s economy. The railroad will provide a 40% match; and

• Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad, $800,000, to upgrade and install eight culvert structures along 163 miles of track between Fort Pierre and Rapid City. The new structures will better withstand future flows from the storm water basins at their locations. The railroad will provide a 20% match.

The purpose of the STC program is to provide direct grant funding to states that lack intercity passenger-rail service or those in which the rail transportation system is not connected to the rail system in the continental United States. Federal funds awarded to projects may cover up to 80% of the total project cost.