The South Dakota Railroad Board approved $58.8 million in Special Transportation Circumstance (STC) grant funds for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 at a meeting on Wednesday.
“The STC funds are dedicated to three states, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska, who do not have passenger rail (Amtrak),” said Joel Jundt, South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) secretary. “The STC grant funds are dedicated to provide the financial resources to improve South Dakota’s freight railroad infrastructure, which is vital to the continued growth and development of our economy.”
The awardees are Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western Railroad, $17.6 million; Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad, $14 million; Dakota & Iowa Railroad, $9.9 million; Ringneck and Western Railroad, $8.3 million; Sisseton Milbank Railroad, $3.2 million; and the Belle Fourche Economic Development Corp., $837,440.
The STC grant program is through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. Projects must meet eligibility requirements, and federal funding does not exceed 80 percent of a project’s total cost.
The Railroad Board also approved an amendment to a 2020 STC Meet and Pass grant for Ringneck and Western Railroad. The amendment was for $797,353 in STC funds.
The SDDOT will file grant requests on behalf of the approved awardees.