Quigley's "Mike on the Move" Tour Highlights Rail Congestion Mitigation

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD), took his "Mike on the Move" transportation initiative to Bensenville, Illinois with Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg to tour a rail congestion mitigation project. The project is part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program.

"Chicago remains the busiest rail hub in the United States, with nearly 1,300 trains passing through the region every day. But outdated infrastructure is slowing our economic growth," said Rep. Quigley. "Passenger and freight trains often share railroad tracks in heavily trafficked areas, increasing congestion on major thoroughfares like Irving Park Road, which we visited today. This congestion hurts our region's flow of commerce and commuters. I'm thankful for partnerships like CREATE and strong leaders like FRA Acting Administrator Feinberg who are working to alleviate congestion in the Fifth District and increase the flow of goods and passengers around the country."

Rep. Quigley toured CREATE project GS16, the Irving Park Road & Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPRR) Grade Separation project. The grade separation will significantly increase safety and reduce congestion at the intersection in Bensenville, IL. The project includes pavement reconstruction and widening, improved intersection geometry, additional auxiliary lanes, drainage system improvements, and signal modernization. Every day, nearly 6,400 vehicles are delayed at this location, yielding 1,500 daily motorist hours of delay that would be alleviated by this project. This separation will also significantly improve railroad operations by enabling the CPRR to run trains unimpeded at all times. Currently, the CPRR averages 25 trains per day in this area.

Also attending today's "Mike on the Move" were Sarah Feinberg, FRA Acting Administrator; Steve Illich, FRA Regional Administrator; Matthew Lehner, FRA Office of Public Affairs; Jeff Sriver, CDOT Director of Transportation Planning and Programming; Beth McCluskey, Director of Public and Intermodal Transportation, IDOT; and Sam Tuck, Bureau Chief CREATE and Freight Rail, IDOT.

Source