The planning to alleviate a major freight rail traffic bottleneck is wrapping up.
A “flyover” is planned to separate freight rail traffic on Springfield’s south side that often delays traffic, especially if two freight trains and Amtrak try to get through at the same time.
However, approval for this part of the High Speed Rail Project could still be a couple of years away.
“When there are trains stopped and there are multiple trains coming, there’s often interference which creates situations where trains have to stop in other locations,” says Scott Speegle of the llinois Department of Transportation. “This, hopefully, will help alleviate those problems.
A flyover would mean one set of tracks runs above the other.
Construction is years away because final approval by the federal government has not yet been granted and no funding source has been identified.