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5/8/2024
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) will award $9.6 million in grants to 11 freight-rail service improvement projects that will contribute to regional economic development.
The grants are provided through the Minnesota Rail Service Improvement Program with funding approved during the 2023 state legislative session.
"Improving Minnesota's rail service gives local businesses more opportunities to compete in our global and national economy,” said Kelly Christenson, supervisor of the MnDOT Freight and Rail Program, in a press release. "The increased number of grant applications we received this year demonstrates the importance of improving the freight rail infrastructure across the state."
The projects and funding amounts are:• Northern Country Co-op, Lansing, $1.9 million to develop a unit train loading facility and install storage bins to hold product;• Minnesota Northern Railroad Co., Crookston, $1.56 million to develop land for a new industrial park and innovation center, including installing 2,478 feet of track and site preparation for an initial spur, a turnout from the track to the site, bin storage and a crossing to the spur;• Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Watkins, $1.5 million to install new rail-car offloading stations with outdoor bulk storage and material handling upgrades;• Meadowlands Farmers Co-op, Echo, $1.1 million to construct 2,150 feet of new siding track to transport fertilizer by rail for a new agronomy center;• American Crystal Sugar Co., Crookston, $960,000 to expand a packaging warehouse to cover the rail spur adjacent to the building;• City of Little Falls, $613,600 to reconstruct and update an existing signal to an active warning railroad crossing, install ADA-compliant pedestrian crosswalks, and close an existing grade crossing of the spur line;• Seven Rivers Intermodal Terminal LLC, Winona, $511,446 to add 2,440 feet of track and two internal switches within an existing terminal to increase yard capacity and inbound shipments for distribution;• Progressive Rail Inc., Lakeville, $468,137 to renew and improve eight bridges;• Sanimax USA LLC, South St. Paul, $400,000 to enhance the rail loading system to enable the direct loading of materials into rail cars, and to install a conveyance system linking the truck loadout to the rail loading area;• Twin Cities & Western Railroad Co., Cologne, $328,424 to extend the stub track over a recently acquired parcel, and create a full siding with connections to the TC&W mainline enabling greater access and track capacity to support a large transload operation; and• DeRock Capital Group LLC, Hector, $246,000 to add a switch to the sidetrack, 350 feet of rail, ties, rail bed; update two existing loading rail docks; and complete groundwork next to the rail spur to increase transloading capabilities.