NDSU’s Mountain-Plains Consortium awarded federal grant

BY LISA GIBSON

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded North Dakota State University’s Mountain-Plains Consortium an $861,000 grant for projects that focus on safe, mobile and sustainable passenger and freight transportation.

MPC, the Region 8 Transportation Center, is made up of eight universities: NDSU, Colorado State University, South Dakota State University, University of Colorado Denver, University of Denver, University of Utah, University of Wyoming and Utah State University.

The schools will submit proposals for projects and the best ones will be given funding from the grant, according to Tom Jirik, communications coordinator for the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute at NDSU, the lead agency of MPC. The funding is a continuation of a grant awarded in 2013.

“We share a lot of characteristics,” Jirik says of the states represented in the consortium. “We have lots of land and not a lot of people.” That makes rural road safety crucial, including at rural train crossings. NDSU is conducting a study to determine how those crossings can be improved. “They are a well-known safety hazard,” Jirik says.

Trains are often at their top speeds when barreling through rural areas and many rural crossings don’t have arms or obvious warning systems in place, he says. The cost of putting in the arms is often not justified in areas where traffic is sparse. “[The study] is certainly spurred by accidents, but we can’t point to any in particular.”

Ongoing projects in other MPC states include dust control, bridge infrastructure and traffic control. Jirik says Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was instrumental in securing the federal funding for new projects. “While North dakota’s population continues to grow, there are still very many rural parts of our state,” Hoeven says in a statement. “The researchers at NDSU’s Mountain-Plains Consortium are working to tackle issues that affect transportation, which is especially important in our rural areas because they can carry their own unique risks and hazards. [This] grant will allow folks at MPC to continue the important work they are doing to ensure the safety of North Dakotans.”

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., says in a statement, “Reliable, safe transportation infrastructure is critical to local economies, communities and families. These federal funds will support invaluable programs at NDSU’s Mountain-Plains Consortium to address high-risk rural roads, the movement of hazardous materials, infrastructure longevity and other unique transportation challenges of the region.” PB

Lisa Gibson Editor, Prairie Business 701.787.6753

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