In the past, Americans were capable of infrastructure improvements deemed necessary or useful. In Aurora, IL, the CB&Q and the city raised and relocated the RoW in the 1920s. In Winnetka, IL "ON THIS DAY (May 10) in 1939, the old train station at Elm Street was demolished. The Winnetka stop was originally built at grade level when it served the Chicago and North Western Railway. As an increasing amount of railroad traffic came through Winnetka, the railroad crossings became unsafe, and 29 people had been killed at railroad crossings by 1937 despite safety efforts by the city and the railroad. After the deaths of two prominent Winnetka women at the Pine Street crossing on October 20, 1937 (hit by a train going backwards without its lights on at night), Winnetkans demanded that the grade crossings be removed. The city elected to put the tracks in a below-grade trench to avoid dividing the city with an elevated railroad. With the help of funding from the Public Works Administration, the tracks were lowered into a trench by 1943."
The last sentence provides most of the answer to your question. Getting Federal funding for similar projects is almost impossible these days with the current regime in the Executive Mansion.
CSSH...... Do you have specific data-info to support your statement or is this just your political position?
CSSHEGEWISCHGetting Federal funding for similar projects is almost impossible these days
Let's not overlook that also in the past, State governments were capable of requiring railroads to provide such infrastructure improvements deemed necessary or useful, primarily at the railroads expense.
Nowadays they can't even require the railroads to observe local ordinances on grade crossing blockages. So, shifts in the political landscape OTHER than the current administration must also shoulder the blame.
In the first two decades of the 20th century, the state of Indiana forced the railroads to perform grade crossing separations in both Indianapolis and Fort Wayne....substantially at the railroads expense.
In the case of Fort Wayne, the city paid 25% of the cost where through streets were to be spanned by the new rail overpass, and the railroads paid for all the rest.
I can only suspect that deals precipitating grade separation projects undertaken in Warsaw and Cambridge City at about this same time period, were similarly structured.
There was a very informative post by Paul D North on infrastructure projects involving RoWs in cities which seems to have disappeared.
CSSHEGEWISCHGetting Federal funding for similar projects is almost impossible these days with the current regime in the Executive Mansion.
Seemed largely impossible during the two terms of the previous one, too. Despite throwing trillions at 'stimulus' construction that famously included rebuilding many of the ripoff service stops along Western interstates, and (supposedly) to produce high-speed rail service.
If I recall, one of the foundering points was that the gains from expensive physical grade separations were limited to intrastate time and convenience, and in part for the nominal benefit of private corporations. Someone more familiar with this than I should comment.
charlie hebdo There was a very informative post by Paul D North on infrastructure projects involving RoWs in cities which seems to have disappeared.
You've authored duplicate threads, here is the other: http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/275938.aspx
charlie hebdoAfter the deaths of two prominent Winnetka women at the Pine Street crossing on October 20, 1937 (hit by a train going backwards without its lights on at night), Winnetkans demanded that the grade crossings be removed. The city elected to put the tracks in a below-grade trench to avoid dividing the city with an elevated railroad. With the help of funding from the Public Works Administration, the tracks were lowered into a trench by 1943."
I think it is also important to remember that these "chinese walls" were at times seen as convenient cultural and social barriers dividing the classes.
Putting "the wrong side of the tracks" conveniently out of sight and out of mind.
From Mike:
The following set of guidelines and design criteria for grade separation projects for both Union Pacific and BNSF railroads is fairly informative. Particularly section 4 "General Requirements" and section 5 "Overhead Clearances"
Link
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