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South Side bridge should help region's freight bottleneck

Metra and Norfolk Southern freight railroad executives heralded the completion of a bridge on Chicago's South Side Thursday that is expected to reduce delays across the region.

Chicago is among the busiest and most congested rail hubs in the nation. It's estimated some freight trains take as long as 30 hours to pass through the region, and the gridlock trickles down to Metra and Amtrak passengers as well.

The Englewood flyover at 63rd and State Streets will ease some of that traffic, officials said Thursday.

"Not only will this project eliminate many hours in freight and passenger train delays daily, but it frees up additional capacity for all of us to continue to grow our business," Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman said.

The bridge replaces a crossing between Metra's Rock Island Line and Norfolk Southern tracks. The flyover will carry Rock Island passengers and freight, and Amtrak trains will use the tracks below.

Metra CEO Don Orseno said the bridge was in use already and is reducing conflicts with freight trains on the Rock Island.

The project cost about $142 million, 92 percent of which came from the federal government. It's part of the CREATE program, a coalition of Metra and freight railroads - plus Chicago, state and federal governments - that pools funding to build bridges, new tracks and other infrastructure to fix gridlock.

Of 70 CREATE projects costing $3.8 billion, 20 are completed with $2.6 billion in funding needed.

Metra got an earful in summer 2012 when South Side residents complained minorities weren't getting contracts or jobs related to the flyover although it was in their community, however a resolution was reached with the main contractor IHC Construction.

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