Ohio commission approves grants for 4 rail projects
The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) has approved $1.4 million in grant funding to support four rail access and infrastructure improvement projects across the state.
In total, the funding assistance will result in greater than $350 million in rail infrastructure investment around the state, ORDC officials said in a press release. A $160,000 grant to Tower Automotive Operations USA will support the expansion of the company’s on-site rail infrastructure at its Bellevue facility. Akron Barberton Cluster Railway was awarded a $700,000 grant to assist with the replacement of bridge superstructure over the railroad’s Ravenna Line in Kent. A $500,000 grant will support a Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway bridge reconstruction project. The bridge, which crosses Silver Street in Akron, was originally constructed in 1900. G&D Trucking Inc./Hoffman Transportation LLC will receive a $100,000 grant to support the construction of a new rail spur and storage track to serve their current facility in Columbus Grove. This project will enable significant transloading capacity for a historically underserved region, ORDC officials said. The commission also approved a 25-year extension of the operating lease held by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.'s Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road for the state-owned Panhandle rail line between Columbus and the Ohio River. In exchange for extending the lease, the railroad has agreed to invest and expand the capacity of the line, ORDC officials said.