U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) applauded the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) funding of the Ogden Junction on Chicago’s west side.
The department awarded more than $70 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program — the project that will help increase rail speed and flexibility, reduce delays, provide for more reliable travel times and create jobs, the Congress members said.
“For nearly two decades, CREATE projects have improved the way passengers and goods move over rail, making Chicago’s railroad network safer, more efficient, and better able to accommodate increased freight and passenger traffic,” Duckworth said. “While improving our infrastructure is vital, this project will do so much more—it will help reduce costs of goods, give time back to travelers due to more efficient and quicker trains and reduce traffic congestion, as well as create more good-paying, local jobs.”
Ogden Junction spans the Western Avenue Rail corridor from Kedzie to 16th Street and will include rehabilitating, replacing, removing, and upgrading nearly two miles of railroad track, signaling, and viaduct structures, as well as building more than 10,000 feet of new track.
“This project – funded through the federal INFRA grant program – is great news for communities throughout the region,” Durbin said. “Rehabilitating and updating this critical railroad track will improve safety, reduce rail and vehicle congestion, and create good paying jobs, and I’ll continue supporting this federal funding program.”