Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | Official U.S. House headshot
Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | Official U.S. House headshot
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On June 5, 2023, U.S. Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) announced that Broward County has been awarded a $15.4 million grant from the first-ever round of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s new Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) Grant Program.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is saving lives,” said Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL). “This grant will increase safety at Broward County railroad crossings and reduce deadly collisions that our community has come to see too often.”
The Broward County Sealed Corridor Project will increase safety at 21 grade crossings, along Florida’s East Coast Rail Corridor, a freight rail corridor shared with Brightline’s intercity passenger rail service. Along the corridor, 17% of collisions are the result of motorists driving around entrance gates, with nearly 60% of those instances occurring in Broward County.
Safety improvements will deter such actions by constructing 33 new exit gates and 7 raised medians at crossings where at least 27 collisions have occurred over the last five years. Upgrades being funded by the Biden-Harris Administration, the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, and six local municipalities will increase safety at crossings where more than 60 trains per day are estimated to pass through by next year and benefit a County projected to grow by nearly 2.2 million by 2045.
"Every year, commuters, residents, and first responders lose valuable time waiting at blocked railroad crossings—and worse, those crossings are too often the site of collisions that could be prevented,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re improving rail crossings in communities across the country to save lives, time, and resources for American families.”
Over each of the next four years, additional Railroad Crossing Elimination Program funding will be made available annually and communities are encouraged to apply. Project selections for other grant programs in IIJA that will improve freight rail safety and efficiency, strengthen supply chains, and expand the passenger rail network – representing billions of dollars in infrastructure law investments – will be announced in the coming months.
Learn more about the infrastructure investments in Florida here.
Original source can be found here.
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