Kentucky rail safety grants target crossings and industrial access

Kentucky rail safety grants will send $3 million to railroad safety and infrastructure improvement projects, Gov. Andy Beshear announced yesterday, according to Progressive Railroading.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The state is distributing the money through two Kentucky Transportation Cabinet programs. The grant funds are headed to railroads and local governments for nine projects in seven counties aimed at industrial access and strengthening railway infrastructure. In a Kentucky.gov press release from the governor’s office, the work is described as including rail line expansion, access road construction, and public rail crossing signal and lighting upgrades.

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How KRCI and KIASI rail grants are structured?

Under the Kentucky Rail Crossing Improvement (KRCI) program, grants can cover up to 80% of eligible project costs to improve safety and traffic flow at public rail crossings by adding or upgrading warning devices. The Kentucky Industrial Access and Safety Improvements (KIASI) program, operated with the Cabinet for Economic Development, provides 50% matching funds for projects that strengthen rail connectivity, improve service to existing industries, enhance on-time performance, and support economic development and new investment—an approach also outlined in Railway Supply coverage of Kentucky’s KRCI and KIASI grant programs.

Kentucky rail crossing improvement grants: where the $1.6M goes

KRCI grants totaling $1.6 million were awarded to Paducah and Louisville Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway and R.J. Corman Railroad Co., along with the Bourbon County fiscal court, for projects in Central and Western Kentucky. The improvements range from signal and light enhancements at crossings to adding raised curb medians with delineators to improve traffic flow. Paducah and Louisville Railway received $776,831 to enhance safety and reliability at three key crossings in Hardin and Grayson counties.

Industrial access and rail connectivity projects funded by KIASI

The two KIASI projects, totaling $1.4 million, will rehabilitate and reactivate 6,400 feet of track in Jefferson County and support site work at the Owensboro Riverport Authority. The riverport plans to pave 26,500 square feet of asphalt for an access road and pour 41,700 square feet of concrete for an area designated for railcar storage, loading and unloading. The Owensboro Riverport received $1.12 million to construct an access road and an additional storage and loading area for trucks.

Beshear’s office said that since first taking office in 2019, the administration has awarded $10.2 million in KRCI funds and $13.6 million in KIASI funds.

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