Flagstaff is slated to see long-awaited improvements to its freight and passenger rail infrastructure as a result of just-announced federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
That funding, awarded by the federal Department of Transportation, will target work along the historic Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Southern Transcontinental Corridor and is part of a total $32.4 million in funding that the Arizona city is receiving for a variety of transportation infrastructure projects.
The rail project is popularly known as the Downtown Mile Project and will also see the construction of a new regional transit center.
In a statement, Coconino County Chair Patrice Horstman said the project will “relieve traffic congestion in the busiest section of downtown Flagstaff and will ensure traffic and pedestrian connectivity in and out of downtown that will ensure the safety of all citizens.”
The funding is also expected to pay for the construction of three new underpasses and the installation of pedestrian railroad gates on Beaver and San Francisco streets.
By Garry Boulard
