By John Faucher
Waupaca Now
New London was awarded a $384,000 rail grant Monday, Jan. 4.
The award from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is one of seven grants announced totaling more than $31 million in grants and loans through Wisconsin’s freight railroad assistance program.
Freight Railroad Preservation Program grants cover up to 80 percent of project costs to help preserve freight rail service or rehabilitate tracks on publicly owned rail lines.
The project will replace 1,100 ties and add 900 tons of ballast to approximately one mile of track. Two public road crossings also will be reconstructed. Rehabilitation of the spur track will reactivate rail access to Granite Valley.
Reactivating this spur will allow Granite Valley to bring in hardwood logs by rail from other states that are currently trucked to its facility, reducing the company’s shipping costs, and will enable the company to expand production at the site through addition of a sawmill, resulting in the hiring of an additional 15 full-time employees.
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