Quote:
Englewood flyover deal set to be signed today
Posted by Greg H. at 6/22/2011 11:53 AM CDT
It looks like the last legal hurdle has been cleared for a critical piece of the rail decongestion work on the South Side known as the Englewood Flyover.
U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski's office reports that the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Norfolk Southern railway are expected to sign a contract today for the $133-million flyover, which will bridge an often horrific bottleneck centered at 63rd and State streets.
If the contract really is signed today, the money will be obligated and presumably isolated from congressional budget cutters.
* * * 3:20 p.m. update -- It's a done deal, says the state in a press release. An agreement has been reached with the Federal Railroad Administration, Norfolk Southern and Amtrak for construction to begin later this year. Construction will take about two years.
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Finally!!
This is incredibly important, and it's a needed step before many of the other big CREATE projects can happen, such as the 75th Street corridor routing the Southwest Service into LaSalle Street Station, or the Grand Crossing project, routing New Orleans and Carbondale trains off of the St. Charles Air Line.