The operator of the South Shore commuter rail line recently approved nearly $9 million in infrastructure work, including bridge rehabilitation projects and three new track crossovers to complement a planned double-tracking project between Gary and South Bend.
The bridge work will cost $5.2 million and the crossovers another $1.7 million.
While the bridge rehabilitation work is more expensive, "the big work this year is installing the high-speed crossovers," said John Parsons, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District planning and marketing director.
The three crossovers are known as the Parrish Crossover, east of the East Chicago station; the Clark Crossover, near the Clark Road station in Gary; and Paul's Crossover, near the Ogden Dunes station in Porter County.
The crossovers will allow express trains and trains with fewer stops to pass ones that stop at most or all stations, Parsons said.
"It's a safety enhancement," he said of the upgrades, "but beyond safety it also lays the groundwork for when we implement double-tracking."
NICTD has argued that reducing commuter times is key to increasing ridership, and it is pursuing help in Indianapolis to fund a $115 million project to add second tracks between Gary and South Bend to facilitate that.
Parsons said the work on the crossovers will include some service delays during off-peak weekday hours and weekends. NICTD will have more specific information on those disruptions in March.
The work will be completed during the spring and early summer. The contract was awarded to Railworks Track Services for about $1.7 million.
The bridge projects range from removal of an out-of-use predestrian underpass at Oak Street in Hammond to full replacement of a bridge over the EJ&E railroad tracks in Gary. Work will start this spring and be completed by the end of November.
NICTD does not expect a significant impact on scheduling, though Parsons said the impact in LaPorte County to due work on the bridge over Ind. 39 hasn't been determined.
The main span of the South Shore's bridge over the EJ&E/Canadian National tracks in Gary was constructed in 1912 at a different site, then purchased, extended and put into service at its current location in 1953.
Replacement of the main span will be performed by Illinois Construction Corp. for $2,110,000.
Rehabilitation of the bridge over Columbia Avenue in Hammond also tops $2 million. That contract was won by Superior Construction Co.
The bridge was built in 1956 and spans two CSX railroad tracks as well as Columbia Avenue. Work will include repairs to the deck and expansion joints, as well as sand-blasting and painting. The work will be done in conjunction with the nearby Parrish Crossover project.
Industrial Highway Bridge spans West Third Avenue in Gary. That bridge, along with the Highway 39 bridge in LaPorte County, will receive basic maintenance work at a cost of about $543,000 for Industrial Highway and $422,000 for Highway 39.
The Industrial Highway project was awarded to Ellas Construction Co.; Highway 39 went to JCI Bridge Group.
Finally, Ellas Construction was also awarded a $93,000 contract to fill the former pedestrian underpass at Oak Avenue in Hammond. It was closed and filled in 2000. This year's project will remove the remaining structure and refill it.
The remainder of the contracts awarded were for nearly $2 million in track materials, including rails, ties and limestone ballast.