State will help Fresno rebuild a major railroad crossing. Where is it, and what will it cost?

Two future grade-separated railroad crossings to improve railroad safety in central Fresno are the target for an $80 million award of state funds announced Thursday.

The Blackstone Avenue and McKinley Avenue crossings of the BNSF Railway tracks near Fresno City College have long been an annoyance to drivers making their way through central Fresno as both freight trains and Amtrak passenger trains flow through the area. The two crossings are separated by several hundred feet.

The $80 million award from the state’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program will cover about 53% of the anticipated $151.9 million cost of the project. Out of $251 million statewide in TIRCP grants announced Thursday, Fresno’s award was the largest.

Scott Mozier, Fresno’s director of public works, said major construction is expected to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2028.

Traffic through the intersection of Blackstone and McKinley avenues is affected by an average of 37 trains each day. Mayor Jerry Dyer said the average delay to motorists is about three minutes for each train. “Often times not only do our buses get delayed as a result of the trains, …” Dyer said, “but also our emergency vehicles: our ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles.”

In addition, four people have been killed by trains at the crossings over the past 10 years, the mayor said.

By lowering the Blackstone/McKinley intersection and rebuilding the streets to run below new railroad bridges, “this project will eliminate future delays and traffic congestion,” Dyer added. “This is something that needs to be done and should have been done a long time ago.”

Most of the rest of the money for the work is coming from Measure C, Fresno County’s sales tax supplement for transportation projects. Mike Leonardo, executive director of the Fresno County Transportation Authority that oversees Measure C spending, said the project will benefit students at nearby Fresno City College as well as area residents, transit riders and commuters in general.

“I attended Fresno City College for two years before transferring to Fresno State, and you can imagine how frustrating it is to get stuck behind a train,” Leonardo said, “especially when you’re already late for class.”

Mozier said the project has been decades in the planning but never progressed because of a lack of money. That changed when Measure C money was approved for the work three years ago. Since that point, Mozier said, the city has hired engineers to develop plans for how best to build the new intersection and crossings while reducing traffic disruptions for drivers.

The result: a plan for staged construction in which new temporary crossings for the BNSF tracks and Blackstone and McKinley crossings will move the trains and cars out of the way to allow for a complete rebuild of the intersection and new railroad bridges, all while traffic largely continues to flow, Mozier said.

The city will begin acquiring the property it needs for the right of way, and minor construction such as demolition of purchased buildings and relocating utilities will start happening well before the major construction begins in 2026, Mozier added.

City Council Vice President Annalisa Perea said she appreciated the grant award from the state to kick-start the project. “Our community has been grappling with traffic congestion and safety concerns at numerous intersections” for years, she said.

“This investment is a catalyst for progress,” Perea said, “and together (with the state) we can transform our transportation system and create a safer, more efficient community as we pave the way for future roads and railways (to) coexist seamlessly.”