The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced Friday it will be the recipient of a $755 million grant through a federal program that will fund 12 rail-grade separation projects throughout the state. In other words, federal funds awarded to Texas will soon alter railways across the Lone Star State.
The projects will move a collection of on-the-ground rail crossings that are deemed dangerous, rerouting the tracks vertically onto a bridge or horizontally to a new, on-the-ground location.
“I have led the charge to increase funding for rail grade separation projects to keep Texans safe,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement Friday. “By leveraging state funding to secure significant federal funding for rail grade separation projects, we will be able to improve rail and road safety for all Texans.”
The dozen of soon-to-be-updated rail crossings are located across Texas, from El Paso County in the west to Harris County and Fort Bend County in Houston and the surrounding area. The single largest project will come in North Texas, in which $189 million will be used to fund the alteration or elimination of nine at-grade railroad crossings in Dallas, Fort Worth and Terrell.
TxDOT will also use $77.6 million in funding from the state’s Off-System Rail Grade Separation State Fund Program. The state says it will use a total of more than $953 million this year in projects that impact Texas railways, with the money coming from local, state and federal investment. No other state has received a greater share of federal funding for its railway system, per TxDOT.