This article is sponsored by Louisville & Indiana Railroad
An immense railway enhancement initiative has improved safety conditions at multiple railroad crossings in Johnson County, Indiana.
The Johnson County Rail Corridor Safety Improvement project unified several area towns to ensure safer conditions at multiple train crossings in each.
The program focused on ensuring that most county crossings were equipped with functioning crossing arms and flashing lights to alert drivers when trains were incoming.
The initiative was mostly funded by a federal grant via the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which paid for 90% of the upgrades, at a price tag of $3.4 million.
The other 10%, or $348,453.51, was covered by the participating communities, according to the terms of the agreement.
The specific breakdown of the local contribution pulled $135,000 from Franklin, $91,000 from Greenwood, $62,000 from Whiteland and $60,000 from Johnson County proper.
All in all, the project improved conditions at 16 railroad crossing locations and closed one due to safety reasons.
The upgrades were officially completed in September 2020 — and they were much needed, according to officials.
“There is a need for this. We all know that we need to do this,” Steve Barnett, mayor of Franklin, told the Daily Journal
According to Barnett, the grant that made the improvements possible saved Franklin alone $1.4 million.
Mark Richards, the city engineer of Franklin, commented on the vastness of the program to the outlet.
“Essentially, this is every crossing within (the) Whiteland, Greenwood, Franklin and Johnson County jurisdictions,” he said.
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