News Release

May 1 , 2008

Repairs being made to highway-railroad grade crossings across the state

Ames, Iowa – Lots of warm weather construction activities will start across Iowa soon. Among them will be making nearly 30 highway-railroad grade crossings smoother, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation's (Iowa DOT) Office of Rail Transportation. A list of the specific locations for the planned improvements may be found at www.iowarail.com/assistance/2008surface.pdf.

Each year the Grade Crossing Surface Repair Program assists in the cost to rebuild crossings to maintain safe and smooth highway-railroad crossing for Iowa 's motorists. The program covers 60 percent of the cost of repairs and the railroad and the highway jurisdiction (normally the city or county) each pay 20 percent.

"Either a railroad or a roadway jurisdiction may apply for surface repair funding," said Mary Jo Key, program manager in the Iowa DOT's Office of Rail Transportation. "We will accept applications at any time, and projects are primarily funded in the order in which they are received. The available money allows only a limited number of surface improvements each year, so there is a multi-year waiting period for the assistance."

The Iowa Transportation Commission approves surface improvements under this program. Funding for the program comes from both the Iowa Road Use Tax Fund and Federal-Aid Rail-Highway Safety Funds.

Applications for the program are available at the Office of Rail Transportation's Web site at www.iowarail.com.

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