Project Overview & Status
Project Overview & Status
Last Updated: April 9, 2012
The Route 164 Additional Rail Line Construction is complete and in service.
This project will improve the efficiency of the Commonwealth Railway Mainline Safety Relocation Project (CRMSRP) that eliminated fourteen at grade crossings and was placed in service last year. Construction included a second set of rail tracks and associated switches in the median of Route 164, from south of the Route 17 overpass in Suffolk to the APM Terminal rail gate in Portsmouth.
The siding track and tie-in connection will remove conflicts between arriving and departing trains at the APM Terminal, and also reduce the at-grade conflicts caused by building trains on the existing west Norfolk spur. The additional siding track will improve rail capacity and allow simultaneous assembly and staging of containerized cargo trains - both inbound and outbound - from the APM Terminal.
The former rail line is no longer in use. Activity along the old rail corridor included removal of signal crossings, signs, gate arms and overhead cantilever structures. The rail operator salvaged the old rail and removed the cross ties and the roadways were be repaved at the former crossing locations.
The project has been administered by the Virginia Port Authority using $9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding.
Double-Stacked Trains on the New Rail Line
Second Track in Use
New Second Track
College Drive Overpass
