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Grants and funding

Railroad Crossing Elimination Program

Competitive grants to eliminate highway-rail grade crossings — separations, closures and relocations that keep people and freight moving safely.

Assistant

Ask about this program

Scoped to this page — answers come from the program notice and the statute it cites, and every answer shows its sources.

Can a town apply to close a crossing instead of building an overpass?

You · 14:07

  1. Read the 2026 notice of funding opportunity
  2. Checked 49 U.S.C. § 22909 eligible projects

Yes. Closure of an existing at-grade crossing is an eligible project on its own — an overpass is not required. A closure application must show how traffic will reroute and that the affected community was consulted; closures bundled with improvements to a nearby crossing tend to score better on the safety criteria.

49 U.S.C. § 22909(d)Rail Office NOFO FY 2026, § C.3

Assistant · 14:07

Shift+Enter for a new line · Responses may be inaccurate

Questions

Who is eligible to apply?
States, political subdivisions of states, federally recognized tribes, units of local government, and groups of those entities applying jointly.
Can planning and construction be in one application?
No. Planning awards and construction awards are separate; a completed planning award strengthens a later construction application.
Is there a local match?
The federal share is at most 80 percent. The non-federal match can include in-kind contributions from the railroad.

Overview

More than 200,000 highway-rail grade crossings remain on American roads. Where a busy road meets a busy railroad, the crossing is a place where people wait, first responders are delayed, and collisions happen. The Railroad Crossing Elimination Program funds projects that take the conflict out of the map entirely.

The program is administered by the Office of Rail and funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law at $3 billion over five years. At least 20 percent of each year's funding is reserved for projects in rural areas or on tribal lands.

What is funded

Grade separations — the overpasses and underpasses that carry the road over or under the track — are the program's centerpiece, but they are not the only answer. Closing a redundant crossing, relocating a road away from the track, and the planning and design work that leads to construction are all eligible. Track relocation is eligible where it eliminates several crossings at once.

The federal share is up to 80 percent of project cost. Planning awards start at $250,000; construction awards start at $1 million.