Safety

A legislative panel on Tuesday gave the green light to a proposal to protect train workers, passengers and the communities built next to freight train routes, though it still has two more stops before it can go to a vote in the House of Representatives.

The Federal Railroad Administration has awarded more than $1.1 billion in Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program funding to 123 rail projects, improving or studying more than 1,000 highway-rail crossings nationwide.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation and the city of Columbia, South Carolina; the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration, will host an in-person public meeting next month about the Assembly Street railroad separation project to reduce traffic congestion caused by train crossings.