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Everyone in the Chicago region deserves to breathe clean air, receive their packages on time and get where they need to go without being delayed at railway crossings. Yet, some of our railroad infrastructure needs improvement to unleash the economic potential of our region’s neighborhoods and communities.
The CREATE Program is fixing this.
We’re untangling our rail system to improve regional mobility, promote economic growth and address environmental impacts. Fixing Chicago’s railroads is a significant endeavor, requiring close coordination and partnership between the railroads, city, state and federal government. We’re honored to lead this nationally recognized effort.
The CREATE Program is a public-private partnership to complete 70 railroad-related infrastructure improvement projects in the Chicago region. These projects include building and repairing tracks and structures, upgrading signals and technology improving safety and dealy at railroad crossings. CREATE projects are located in many Chicago neighborhoods and suburban communities and are concentrated along four rail corridors: the Beltway Corridor, the East-West Corridor, the Western Avenue Corridor and the Passenger Corridor.
Where is the CREATE Program improving railroad-related infrastructure near me?
- Search for CREATE projects by Chicago neighborhood on an interactive map.
- Read about projects in each corridor.
The CREATE Program is:
- Constructing 25 new roadway overpasses or underpasses at locations where people walking, bicycling, riding transit or driving currently must cross railroad tracks.
- Building 6 new rail overpasses or underpasses to separate passenger and freight tracks, which will keep trains running faster and avoid delays.
- Upgrading tracks, switches and signal systems to keep trains running efficiently and safely.
- Improving streets and sidewalks under viaducts in Chicago to increase travel safety and comfort for people walking, bicycling, riding transit and driving.
- Making railroad grade crossings safer to reduce train and vehicle crashes.
- Creating the Common Operational Picture (COP), an integration of railroad dispatch systems into one display so operators and staff can communicate more efficiently and respond to problems quickly.
For more details on each CREATE project, please check out our fact sheets
How will CREATE projects benefit communities throughout the Chicago region, the Midwest and across the United States?
- Chicago is the primary freight rail hub of North America, but its aging infrastructure has led to capacity constraints and delays. When products can’t get to businesses or consumers on time, costs go up for everyone and our economic competitiveness declines. The 70 projects in the CREATE Program are designed to increase capacity, improve efficiency, and sustain economic growth while improving the quality of life for people living in the neighborhoods through which the trains pass.
- The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) estimates that traffic delays at Chicago area railway crossings cost our region $58 million in wasted productivity in 2017 alone. CREATE Program improvements will lessen delays so everyone in our region can more easily get to work, school and other destinations.
- Idling trains and vehicles waste fuel and add to air pollution. CREATE improvements mean fewer traffic delays and reduced fuel consumption, emissions and congestion for travelers throughout the Chicago region.