Texas scores another $126 million for 8 projects in the latest round of federal rail funds, now totaling over $1 billion this year
October 30, 2026
October 30, 2026 - TRA Newswire
The work of the Rail Division at the Texas Department of Transportation along with various cities and counties in the state has resulted in a windfall this year in excess of $1 billion in Federal Railroad Administration funds for important rail improvement projects.
Cities that will benefit from Rail Crossing Elimination (RCE) grants include Amarillo, Manor and Schertz, the counties of Bexar, Harris, Presidio and Tarrant and a Fort Worth grant application that was initiated by TxDOT.
The Crossing Safety Program intends to fund highway-rail or pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects, including but not limited to elimination projects, that improve safety and mobility of people and goods. Such projects will improve American rail infrastructure to enhance rail safety, improve the health and safety of communities, eliminate highway-rail and pathway-rail grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains, or reduce the impacts that freight movement and railroad operations may have on underserved communities.
The FRA received 264 applications in the competitive grant program and selected 91 projects for the available $1.146 billion in funding. The program received almost $5 billion in requests and was oversubscribed by $3.6 billion, showing the need exists to enhance safety at railroad crossings.
Here are the Texas projects awarded:
Texas – BNSF Railroad Crossing at NE 24th Avenue, Potter County Project (Up to $15,000,000) City of Amarillo The proposed project was selected for Construction and includes activities to support the grade separation of an at-grade BNSF crossing at NE 24th Avenue in Amarillo, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods and eliminating a highway-rail grade crossing that is frequently blocked by trains as the project will eliminate a longstanding at-grade conflict between roadway users and railroad operations. The project will also improve the operational efficiency of the BNSF freight corridor by removing roadway conflicts from rail operations and reducing pressure on local traffic circulation caused by stopped trains. The City of Amarillo will contribute a 60 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from the Texas Department of Transportation and BNSF.
Texas – Walzem Connected: A Grade Separation Project for Safety, Reliability, and Emergency Access (Up to $47,825,475) County of Bexar The proposed project was selected for Project Development, Final Design, Right-of-Way Acquisition, and Construction and includes activities to eliminate one at-grade crossing through a grade separation over the Union Pacific Railroad track in San Antonio, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving safety and mobility of people and goods, enhancing rail safety, improving the health and safety of communities, eliminating highway-rail and pedestrian-rail conflicts, and reducing the impacts of freight movement and railroad operations on the surrounding community as it will eliminate the existing at-grade crossing. Bexar County will contribute a 24.1 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, Texas Department of Transportation, and Union Pacific Railroad.
Texas – Harris County's Lockwood CLEAR (Crossing and Local Emergency Access Relief) Project (Up to $10,542,655) County of Harris The proposed project was selected for Project Development and Final Design and includes activities to support a future grade separation at the Union Pacific Railroad's Galveston Subdivision on Lockwood Drive in Houston, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by enhancing rail safety and eliminating a highway-rail grade crossing that is frequently blocked by trains as the project will remove an at-grade rail crossing and reduce delays that compromise emergency response times and potential vehicle-train conflicts. Harris County will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share. 23
Texas – City of Manor Planning Study (Up to $400,000) City of Manor The proposed project was selected for Project Planning and includes activities to evaluate and plan for grade crossing solutions along a freight rail corridor (and potential commuter rail corridor) that bisects the downtown area of the City of Manor, Texas and experiences frequent derailments. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods, enhancing rail safety, potentially eliminating highway-rail grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains, and improving the health and safety of communities, as the project will evaluate and develop future implementable alternatives for approximately 13 crossings. The City of Manor will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share. This project qualifies for the statutory set-asides for Planning projects and projects in Rural Areas.
Texas – Presidio County Railroad Crossing Elimination and Vital Access Improvement Project (Up to $600,000) County of Presidio The proposed project was selected for Project Planning and includes activities to conduct a comprehensive planning study in the communities of Presidio and Marfa, Texas. The project will evaluate highway-rail grade crossings, rail corridor access conditions, emergency response impacts, community connectivity, and mobility challenges associated with existing and anticipated rail operations. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods and by reducing the impacts that freight movement and railroad operations may have on underserved communities by evaluating safety risks, analyzing emergency response routes, and identifying opportunities for crossing improvements and grade separations. The County of Presidio will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share. This project qualifies for the statutory set-asides for Planning projects and projects in Rural Areas.
Texas – FM 78 Corridor Grade Crossing Safety Improvement Study (Up to $750,000) City of Schertz The proposed project was selected for Project Planning and includes activities to support a corridor planning study to improve the safety and mobility at four existing at-grade highway-rail grade crossings and one future crossing along the FM 78 corridor, which carries Union Pacific Railroad freight service. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods and enhancing rail safety for grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains as the project will develop concepts to provide improvements to reduce collision risk, shorten blocked-crossing delays, and improve reliability of emergency response. The City of Schertz will contribute a 25 percent non-Federal cost share. This project qualifies for the statutory set-aside for Planning projects.
Texas – Blue Mound Road Grade Separation (Up to $5,600,000) County of Tarrant The proposed project was selected for Project Development and Final Design and includes activities to support the future elimination of an at-grade crossing through a grade separation over the BNSF mainline in Fort Worth and Haslet, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving safety and mobility for people and goods, enhancing rail and roadway safety, eliminating an at-grade highway-rail crossing, reducing blocked-crossing delays, and 24 improving access for the surrounding community as the project will eliminate vehicle-train conflict points, improve emergency response reliability, reduce congestion and delay, and improve freight, passenger rail, pedestrian, bicycle, and roadway mobility. The County of Tarrant will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from BNSF Railway.
Texas – RM 2871/Chapin School Road at Union Pacific Grade Separation (Up to $46,000,000) Texas Department of Transportation The proposed project was selected for Final Design, Right-of-Way Acquisition, and Construction and includes activities to support the future construction of a grade-separated overpass carrying RM 2871 over the Union Pacific Railroad and Aledo Road in Fort Worth, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods as the project will eliminate the highway-rail conflict point, improve emergency response reliability, reduce exposure to blocked crossings, enhance north-south connectivity, and support the safe movement of people and goods in southwest Fort Worth and Tarrant County. The Texas Department of Transportation will contribute a 28 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from Tarrant County and the City of Fort Worth. This project qualifies for the statutory set-aside for projects in Rural Areas.
The work of the Rail Division at the Texas Department of Transportation along with various cities and counties in the state has resulted in a windfall this year in excess of $1 billion in Federal Railroad Administration funds for important rail improvement projects.
Cities that will benefit from Rail Crossing Elimination (RCE) grants include Amarillo, Manor and Schertz, the counties of Bexar, Harris, Presidio and Tarrant and a Fort Worth grant application that was initiated by TxDOT.
The Crossing Safety Program intends to fund highway-rail or pathway-rail grade crossing improvement projects, including but not limited to elimination projects, that improve safety and mobility of people and goods. Such projects will improve American rail infrastructure to enhance rail safety, improve the health and safety of communities, eliminate highway-rail and pathway-rail grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains, or reduce the impacts that freight movement and railroad operations may have on underserved communities.
The FRA received 264 applications in the competitive grant program and selected 91 projects for the available $1.146 billion in funding. The program received almost $5 billion in requests and was oversubscribed by $3.6 billion, showing the need exists to enhance safety at railroad crossings.
Here are the Texas projects awarded:
Texas – BNSF Railroad Crossing at NE 24th Avenue, Potter County Project (Up to $15,000,000) City of Amarillo The proposed project was selected for Construction and includes activities to support the grade separation of an at-grade BNSF crossing at NE 24th Avenue in Amarillo, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods and eliminating a highway-rail grade crossing that is frequently blocked by trains as the project will eliminate a longstanding at-grade conflict between roadway users and railroad operations. The project will also improve the operational efficiency of the BNSF freight corridor by removing roadway conflicts from rail operations and reducing pressure on local traffic circulation caused by stopped trains. The City of Amarillo will contribute a 60 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from the Texas Department of Transportation and BNSF.
Texas – Walzem Connected: A Grade Separation Project for Safety, Reliability, and Emergency Access (Up to $47,825,475) County of Bexar The proposed project was selected for Project Development, Final Design, Right-of-Way Acquisition, and Construction and includes activities to eliminate one at-grade crossing through a grade separation over the Union Pacific Railroad track in San Antonio, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving safety and mobility of people and goods, enhancing rail safety, improving the health and safety of communities, eliminating highway-rail and pedestrian-rail conflicts, and reducing the impacts of freight movement and railroad operations on the surrounding community as it will eliminate the existing at-grade crossing. Bexar County will contribute a 24.1 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, Texas Department of Transportation, and Union Pacific Railroad.
Texas – Harris County's Lockwood CLEAR (Crossing and Local Emergency Access Relief) Project (Up to $10,542,655) County of Harris The proposed project was selected for Project Development and Final Design and includes activities to support a future grade separation at the Union Pacific Railroad's Galveston Subdivision on Lockwood Drive in Houston, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by enhancing rail safety and eliminating a highway-rail grade crossing that is frequently blocked by trains as the project will remove an at-grade rail crossing and reduce delays that compromise emergency response times and potential vehicle-train conflicts. Harris County will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share. 23
Texas – City of Manor Planning Study (Up to $400,000) City of Manor The proposed project was selected for Project Planning and includes activities to evaluate and plan for grade crossing solutions along a freight rail corridor (and potential commuter rail corridor) that bisects the downtown area of the City of Manor, Texas and experiences frequent derailments. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods, enhancing rail safety, potentially eliminating highway-rail grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains, and improving the health and safety of communities, as the project will evaluate and develop future implementable alternatives for approximately 13 crossings. The City of Manor will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share. This project qualifies for the statutory set-asides for Planning projects and projects in Rural Areas.
Texas – Presidio County Railroad Crossing Elimination and Vital Access Improvement Project (Up to $600,000) County of Presidio The proposed project was selected for Project Planning and includes activities to conduct a comprehensive planning study in the communities of Presidio and Marfa, Texas. The project will evaluate highway-rail grade crossings, rail corridor access conditions, emergency response impacts, community connectivity, and mobility challenges associated with existing and anticipated rail operations. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods and by reducing the impacts that freight movement and railroad operations may have on underserved communities by evaluating safety risks, analyzing emergency response routes, and identifying opportunities for crossing improvements and grade separations. The County of Presidio will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share. This project qualifies for the statutory set-asides for Planning projects and projects in Rural Areas.
Texas – FM 78 Corridor Grade Crossing Safety Improvement Study (Up to $750,000) City of Schertz The proposed project was selected for Project Planning and includes activities to support a corridor planning study to improve the safety and mobility at four existing at-grade highway-rail grade crossings and one future crossing along the FM 78 corridor, which carries Union Pacific Railroad freight service. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods and enhancing rail safety for grade crossings that are frequently blocked by trains as the project will develop concepts to provide improvements to reduce collision risk, shorten blocked-crossing delays, and improve reliability of emergency response. The City of Schertz will contribute a 25 percent non-Federal cost share. This project qualifies for the statutory set-aside for Planning projects.
Texas – Blue Mound Road Grade Separation (Up to $5,600,000) County of Tarrant The proposed project was selected for Project Development and Final Design and includes activities to support the future elimination of an at-grade crossing through a grade separation over the BNSF mainline in Fort Worth and Haslet, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving safety and mobility for people and goods, enhancing rail and roadway safety, eliminating an at-grade highway-rail crossing, reducing blocked-crossing delays, and 24 improving access for the surrounding community as the project will eliminate vehicle-train conflict points, improve emergency response reliability, reduce congestion and delay, and improve freight, passenger rail, pedestrian, bicycle, and roadway mobility. The County of Tarrant will contribute a 20 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from BNSF Railway.
Texas – RM 2871/Chapin School Road at Union Pacific Grade Separation (Up to $46,000,000) Texas Department of Transportation The proposed project was selected for Final Design, Right-of-Way Acquisition, and Construction and includes activities to support the future construction of a grade-separated overpass carrying RM 2871 over the Union Pacific Railroad and Aledo Road in Fort Worth, Texas. The project aligns with the selection criteria by improving the safety and mobility of people and goods as the project will eliminate the highway-rail conflict point, improve emergency response reliability, reduce exposure to blocked crossings, enhance north-south connectivity, and support the safe movement of people and goods in southwest Fort Worth and Tarrant County. The Texas Department of Transportation will contribute a 28 percent non-Federal cost share, which may include funding from Tarrant County and the City of Fort Worth. This project qualifies for the statutory set-aside for projects in Rural Areas.