Committee asks staff to inventory Garland railroad crossings and explore federal grade-crossing grants
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Summary
Committee members asked staff to inventory the condition of Garland’s railroad crossings, identify recent work and cost-sharing arrangements, and evaluate eligibility for federal rail safety and grade-crossing grant programs including a newly described $5.5 billion grade crossing elimination program.
At the Oct. 21 meeting of the Transportation Infrastructure and Mobility Committee, members asked city staff to inventory the condition of Garland’s railroad crossings and to evaluate whether federal grant programs could fund improvements, including safety upgrades and crossing repairs.
Chairman Joe Thomas Junior said an email about federal rail-related funding prompted the request, noting there may be programs—he referenced “a brand new, newly established grade crossing elimination program, $5,500,000,000 over 5 years”—that Garland could pursue. “I got an email…that talked about rail related funding programs, which kind of sparked my interest,” Thomas said.
Committee members asked staff to determine how many crossings Garland maintains, which crossings have been repaired recently and which still need work, and what cost-sharing arrangements exist with railroads. Councilman Ed Moore suggested the city coordinate with the Regional Transportation Commission and other regional partners and noted that some inventory data may already be available from regional agencies.
Assistant City Manager Crystal Owens said transportation staff could prepare a condition assessment but asked for scheduling flexibility because the city is close to completing its capital improvement program. “I would ask for just a little bit of grace…between Thanksgiving and Christmas, if we could do this, maybe in January would probably be more feasible for the team,” Owens said.
Council members also asked staff to include an accounting of recent federal and local funds used on crossings and any agreements or cost-sharing arrangements with the railroads. Owens agreed to include specifics on cost-sharing programs and prior work in the staff report to be returned in January.
No formal action or grant applications were authorized at the meeting; the committee requested a written assessment to inform possible future applications for federal rail funding.