County officials toy with new road to relieve train delays

OTTUMWA — Could a new paved road in rural Wapello County be the remedy for persistent logjams of vehicles waiting for Canadian Pacific Kansas City trains passing through Quincy Avenue?

It's something county officials are pondering, and they must make a decision relatively quickly.

County supervisors and engineer Brad Skinner spoke of the county's options during a work session Tuesday at the courthouse. It was an idea the railroad itself presented to the county a few weeks ago as CPKC will be constructing a new track in its yard across from Kohl's that could hold the length of one train.

"The trains would no longer be blocking that crossing at Quincy. They will still go across slowly, but that is all going to be automated because the engineer currently has to get out of the engine, walk up, unlock the (switch), walk back, get in his engine and pull the train forward," supervisor Darren Batterson said. "Then they have to go back, flip the switch and go back to the train again.

"That's where we get the long delays for the trains on Quincy."

However, to alleviate the congestion, the railroad proposed closing the crossing at 87th Street and 163rd Avenue across from Rocket Fuels, eventually vacating 170th Avenue, and creating a new paved road just west of 170th that would connect 87th Street and U.S. Highway 34.

"If they leave that crossing in (at 87th and 163rd), then that crossing is going to be blocked almost all the time because that extra train is going to be sitting across it," Batterson said.

Skinner believed that of all the options presented, moving westward seemed to be the most feasible and would affect traffic the least. He said it would cost at least $250,000 to haul dirt to make 170th Street grade level, and it would still have to be paved; 170th leads to the Buckeye Terminal fuel tanks, where at least 80 trucks fuel up every day, supervisor Bryan Ziegler said.

A new road just west of 170th also comes with its own options. At 87th Street, there could be a roundabout installed to keep traffic moving to the east and south, or there could be a T intersection, but that would affect properties along 87th Street and also create noise pollution. Another option could be a blending of traffic off 87th Street onto the new road.

"Nobody wants to see traffic stacking up on Highway 34, so we just kept looking for other alternatives and going about a quarter-mile west (of 170th), to the east side of the big high line that's out there," Skinner said. "There's a spot there with good sight distance, and relatively flat grades so the drainage would be easy to work with.

"We also look at this without understanding the impact to the property owners and that's something we'll need to deal with, just trying to make it fit. But when the railroad says they're going to change the operations in their yard, I think they've decided it's going to happen."

Doug and Lisa Houk own the property where a new road would be created, and Batterson said the county would have to pay them for the right of way to build the road.

Skinner said there is still plenty to be ironed out and that most of the options are still concepts, but there is a wide belief the railroad should pay for the road since it was CPKC's idea. However, since the county will be doing a major repaving project on 87th Street next year, theoretically the two projects could be tied together.

"We don't have a solid cost, but we're looking at somewhere between $500,000 and $750,000, in all likelihood, to make that connection," he said. "We can't necessarily make one project, but we can phase it, so that it will come online in a logical fashion and hopefully upgrade them both at the same time."

The railroad indicated it will be starting its project in June of next year, but Skinner said it would "take us till June to get a good, solid design."

"We might be able to influence a timeline a few months here and there, but not long-term," he said. "But this is their solution to taking the problem away from Quincy."

Skinner said he wants input from residents who would be affected by the changes, while Batterson said there would be more public meetings to discuss what the county intends to do.

Though he couldn't guarantee trains would block crossings completely, Skinner said "if we're a quarter mile west of 170th, it should be just coming and going."

"There will still be 10-15 minute delays for longer trains coming in because they're going to be slowing down as they approach their yard, but they've told us that they don't really expect there to be backup as far as 170th.

"A quarter mile west of there, we should be extra safe from that."

Batterson seemed cautiously optimistic CPKC would at least pay for some of the changes. The Iowa Department of Transportation also could play a role in the project if turning lanes were installed on U.S. Highway 34.

"They didn't say no," he said of the railroad. "They just want a dollar amount."