Grade Separation
With six percent of Measure C funds going towards this program, it aims to separate car, bus, pedestrian, bicycle, and truck traffic from railroad trains. This will be done by replacing at-grade crossings with grade separation structures. There is currently only one project funded by this program, the $75 million dual Blackstone and McKinley crossings of the BNSF Railroad.
This program gets 6% of Measure C’s funds.
Background
In April 2020, the FCTA Board changed Measure C’s 2006 Alternative Transportation/Rail Consolidation Program to the Grade Separation Program. In 2010, under Amendment No. 1, the Board moved up to $25 million to a separate High-Speed Rail Program. This was part of the Measure C Expenditure Plan. The funds are for the California High-Speed Rail Heavy-Maintenance Facility (HMF) if it’s built in Fresno County. The Board also set aside about $500,000 to reserve land parcels for the HMF.
In April 2023, the FCTA approved Amendment No. 7 removing $20 million from Amendment No. 1 (the Heavy-Maintenance Facility) back to the Grade Separation Program. This happened after the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) Board said the Heavy-Maintenance Facility wouldn’t be located in Fresno County. The remaining $4.5 million stayed in the High-Speed Rail account. It could help cover the cost of bringing public utilities to the Fresno Worksite. This site might also host a “maintenance-of-way” facility for CHSRA.
