{"id":742,"date":"2009-07-15T15:53:01","date_gmt":"2009-07-15T19:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/?p=742"},"modified":"2010-12-13T17:55:49","modified_gmt":"2010-12-13T22:55:49","slug":"choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-topic\/shipping-cargo\/choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal\/742\/","title":{"rendered":"[REPORT] Choke Point: Freight rail improvements in Chicago get the green signal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Rick Karr, Blueprint America correspondent<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Back in April, <em>Blueprint America<\/em> reported on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/choke-point\/video-freight-delays-in-chicago-part-one\/547\/\">serious congestion on freight rail lines in Chicago<\/a>, which happens to handle about a third of all freight that moves across the country. We also looked at a billion-dollar-plus plan to ease that bottleneck &#8212; and that local, state and Federal officials were missing only one thing to get it done: money.<\/p>\n<p>Today, <em>The Wall Street Journal<\/em> <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB124761544642242215.html#articleTabs%3Darticle\">reports<\/a> that the plan &#8212; known as CREATE &#8212; has just scored about a third of a billion dollars in federal subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside investments by the railroads themselves, that&#8217;ll move the plan forward quite a bit. And freight railroads won&#8217;t be the only winners. As we reported, one of the most expensive elements in the plan will untangle commuter and freight lines near several busy junctions. That will help speed along commuter trains, and will ultimately allow Chicago-to-St. Louis regional trains to scoot along a little faster.<\/p>\n<p>No word on whether any of the money will help suburban communities pay for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/choke-point\/video-down-at-the-crossroads\/707\/\">the grade separations they want as more freight trains are routed <em>around<\/em> the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rick Karr, Blueprint America correspondent Back in April, Blueprint America reported on serious congestion on freight rail lines in Chicago, which happens to handle about a third of all freight that moves across the country. We also looked at a billion-dollar-plus plan to ease that bottleneck &#8212; and that local, state and Federal officials were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3757,2391,4698],"tags":[5496,5643,2691],"class_list":["post-742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy-by-topic-reports","category-shipping-cargo","category-slow-train-coming","tag-chicago","tag-create","tag-rick-karr"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>America in Gridlock ~ [REPORT] Choke Point: Freight rail improvements in Chicago get the green signal | Blueprint America | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-topic\/shipping-cargo\/choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal\/742\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"America in Gridlock ~ [REPORT] Choke Point: Freight rail improvements in Chicago get the green signal | Blueprint America | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rick Karr, Blueprint America correspondent Back in April, Blueprint America reported on serious congestion on freight rail lines in Chicago, which happens to handle about a third of all freight that moves across the country. We also looked at a billion-dollar-plus plan to ease that bottleneck &#8212; and that local, state and Federal officials were [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/blueprintamerica\/reports\/by-topic\/shipping-cargo\/choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal\/742\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blueprint America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-07-15T19:53:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-13T22:55:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tom mcnamara\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tom mcnamara\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/blueprintamerica\\\/reports\\\/by-topic\\\/shipping-cargo\\\/choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal\\\/742\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/blueprintamerica\\\/reports\\\/by-topic\\\/shipping-cargo\\\/choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal\\\/742\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tom mcnamara\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/blueprintamerica\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5cb395b99b3e08ceff9a2adde41cfa8f\"},\"headline\":\"[REPORT] Choke Point: Freight rail improvements in Chicago get the green signal\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-07-15T19:53:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-13T22:55:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/blueprintamerica\\\/reports\\\/by-topic\\\/shipping-cargo\\\/choke-point-freight-rail-improvements-in-chicago-get-the-green-signal\\\/742\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":201,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Chicago\",\"CREATE\",\"Rick Karr\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\",\"Shipping &amp; 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