Biden administration sends states $570 million to fix dangerous rail crossings

The Department of Transportation on Monday announced that it would allocate more than $570 million to projects in 32 states aimed at reducing collisions between vehicles and trains and improving safety at railroad crossings.

“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. 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,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement announcing the funding.

The funding for the projects comes from the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program, which was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021.

One project that will receive funding under the program is the West Belt Improvement Project in Houston, Texas. According to Houston Public Media, the project will use $36.9 million of the federal funds to eliminate seven at-grade railroad crossings (crossings where railroads directly intersect with highways) and to construct in their places seven underpasses for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.

The Transportation Department said that $15.4 million will be used to improve safety at 21 at-grade crossings in Broward County, Florida. It said: “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.”

According to the nonprofit National Safety Council, there were 893 railroad deaths in the U.S. in 2021, the highest number recorded since 2007 and a 21% increase over that year’s figure. In 2021 there were 5,781 nonfatal injuries associated with railroads.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s database of railroad casualties connected with trespassing on railroad property, which includes level crossings, lists 819 in 2022 and 201 in 2023 through March 31.

House Republicans proposed legislation known as the Limit, Save, Grow Act in April as part of negotiations to suspend the U.S. federal debt limit. If the proposal had become law, it would have cut funding for federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to 2022 levels.

The department projected that this would have resulted in a 22% reduction of funding for critical safety programs, including 7,500 fewer rail safety inspection days and 30,000 fewer miles of railroad track inspected annually.

“House Republicans’ proposal would slash funding for programs the American people depend on in their everyday lives—including funding that’s vital for ensuring transportation safety and improving our country’s infrastructure,” the department said in an April 26 statement.

The bill passed the House on May 4 along party lines, but it will not become law. Instead, President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated and passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which keeps nondefense spending at 2023 levels and increases that spending by 1% in 2025 without future funding caps.

The administration has highlighted infrastructure spending, including the railroad projects, as part of Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda. On Tuesday, the White House introduced a new website, Invest.gov, to highlight public and private projects related to legislation signed into law by Biden, including the infrastructure law, the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.