$30 Million in Federal Money Will Help Replace West Springfield's Two Train-Blocked Crossings With an Overpass

Massachusetts has secured $30 million in federal funding for a project to eliminate two railroad crossings in West Springfield where freight trains regularly block traffic, Western Mass News reported Friday. U.S. Sen. Ed Markey announced the award in a post saying the state has "already secured $280 million in federal funding for West-East Rail—and now, we're announcing $30 million to make railway crossings in West Springfield safer."

The Front and First Street Grade Crossing Elimination Project would replace the two at-grade crossings with a railroad-under grade separation, building an overpass along a new roadway alignment, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's project page.

The crossings sit just over a mile west of the CSX Transportation intermodal terminal in West Springfield. Because of that proximity, both crossings are blocked "for extended periods of time, sometimes multiple times a day," while trains arriving at the facility are switched and sorted, affecting drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, MassDOT says.

Trains In The Valley, a western Massachusetts rail advocacy site that tracks the project, says stopped CSX freight trains at the location have caused extensive and regular traffic delays since 2014. The plan calls for an overpass connecting Front Street and 2nd Avenue, and the existing crossing at First Street will be closed, according to the site, which notes that MassDOT announced the overpass approach on July 29, 2024.

MassDOT describes the project as "fully funded." Design began in fall 2024, with 25% design and environmental review expected to be finished within two years, according to the project page, which would put that milestone around fall 2026. Trains In The Valley lists the preliminary design and environmental phase as running from fall 2024 to fall 2026 and in progress. The project is listed as MassDOT Project 613945. The state has not published a construction start date.

MassDOT's project manager is Scott Conti of the agency's Compass Rail program, according to the project page.

The state ties the crossing work to freight. Its State Rail Plan identifies the corridor as critical infrastructure for moving freight, and Massachusetts and CSX have partnered to invest in improved freight operations and facilities, MassDOT says. State and federal leaders said the project also helps lay the groundwork for MassDOT's Compass Rail program and future West-East passenger rail connecting Boston, Springfield and Albany, Western Mass News reported.

The award comes two weeks after a larger one. On Oct. 16, Healey, Markey and Reps. Richard Neal and Jim McGovern announced $130 million from the Federal Railroad Administration's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program for the Springfield Hub Modernization Project, which will upgrade track, signals and other infrastructure around Springfield Union Station to reduce conflicts between freight and passenger trains, according to the governor's office.

That release noted that the area is home to West Springfield Yard, an important freight facility. It listed earlier awards: $108 million for the Inland Route, which is expected to connect Boston, Springfield and New Haven with two daily Amtrak round trips in 2030; $36.8 million and $1.75 million for design and engineering of the Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project; and a $3.5 million grant to develop a Boston-Albany service plan.

"Building West-East rail is a once-in a-lifetime investment to connect Massachusetts' communities and our regional economies like never before," Markey said in the Oct. 16 release. Neal said the 2021 infrastructure law had brought Massachusetts "more than $280 million to turn the vision of West-East Rail into reality."

Healey, in the Oct. 16 announcement, called the Springfield award "a major win for Western Massachusetts and a big step forward for West-East Rail." Interim Transportation Secretary Phillip Eng said the state is "pursuing every available federal dollar to advance transportation investments that improve quality of life across the Commonwealth." Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger thanked CSX and Amtrak for their partnership, and said the goal is to grow passenger rail "while maintaining a strong freight rail network."

For residents, the practical change will come when the overpass is built: drivers and pedestrians would no longer wait at the crossings while freight cars are sorted. Until then, the crossings remain in use.

Still unknown: the total cost of the overpass, which federal program provided the $30 million, and when construction could begin.