The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced some railway grants for Michigan. The two grants total around $30 million, and they’re to improve tracks and other equipment, mostly for the transport of freight. Michigan Department of Transportation Office of Rail Director Peter Anastor, speaking on the MDOT podcast Talking Transportation this week, said one grant is $21.3 million for a line run by the Great Lakes Central Railroad.
“The work is mostly happening in an area kind of between Ann Arbor, Michigan and Owosso, and it’s just going to make some significant improvements on that infrastructure,” Anastor said. “Looking at new rail, some new ties. It’s going to rehabilitate or replace eleven culverts and bridges on that line.”
That line transports a lot of agricultural products.
“Having this infrastructure and these investments just makes the logistics of moving items on rail even more efficient.”
Anastor says the other grant is $8.7 million for the West Michigan Railroad Company to pay for infrastructure improvements on roughly ten miles of track in southwest Michigan. The company runs a track between Hartford and Paw Paw.
