State to fund rail line work
A new company developing a plant in Fayette County will benefit from state funding for rail line work. More than $466,000 has been awarded to Fay-Penn and Westmoreland County industrial development corporations to help pay for improvements to the line that will serve the Hunter Panels complex in the Fayette Business Park near Fairchance.
Hunter Panels LLC of Portland, Maine, a leading polyisocyanurate roof insulation manufacturer, is constructing a new manufacturing facility in Fayette County that will employ about 70 workers.
Hunter Panels is a business group of Carlisle Companies Inc., Alma Garnett, Hunter Panels founder and vice president, said.
Collectively, more than $8 million has been awarded to help finance 31 rail freight improvement projects that are expected to create more than 1,300 new jobs in Pennsylvania.
The State Transportation Commission approved the projects and the money will be used for construction, maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of rail lines, rail sidings and grade crossings. Funding for these projects come from the state Department of Transportation’s 2006 Rail Freight Assistance Program.
Pennsylvania leads the nation with 62 operating railroads. With 5,100 miles of track, the state ranks fifth in the nation in total track mileage. For more information, visit the state Department of Transportation’s Web site at http://www.dot.state.pa.us.
Recipients, the project location, amount of each grant and work to be undertaken include the following:
– Fay-Penn Industrial Development Corp., Uniontown, was awarded $233,345 to rehabilitate 10 miles of track along the FM&P subdivision near Uniontown. About 13,000 trucks will be removed from the highways. The project will serve the new Carlisle Syntec plant being constructed in the Fayette Business Park near Fairchance.
– Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp., Greensburg, was awarded $233,345 for track rehabilitation on the Radebaugh subdivision and the Bullskin branch in parts of Westmoreland and Fayette counties.