How were the CREATE projects selected?
Selecting the improvements for CREATE was a collaborative process between the freight railroads, State of Illinois Department of Transportation, City of Chicago Department of Transportation, Metra and Amtrak. Recomendations were developed for three types of projects through different processes. The Illinois Commerce Commission and Chicago Area Transportation Study helped to identify the most congested railroad grade crossings, where trains cross the roads and traffic must periodically wait for trains to pass. The process of identifying railroad infastructure projects started with the creation of computer models to measure existing rail bottlenecks in the region. Each railroad then submitted recommendations for improvements. Additional recommendations came from the State and City. A working group made up of representatives of all the CREATE partners refined the recommendations into the CREATE Program, ensuring that the concerns of all parties were taken into consideration. Viaduct impro
