Rapid City railyard could see a new location

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Rapid City's Department of Community Development asked for the approval of a railyard relocation and railway alignment study at Tuesday's Public Works Committee meeting.

The current railyard is located on Cambell Street and the proposal came after a study on the street's railroad overpass in 2022.

The new study will look at railroad operations and how many trains are traveling through the city every day.

Kip Harrington is the long-range planning manager for the city's Department of Community Development and he says this is the first study to be done on this issue after numerous complaints.

"We've had complaints for many years from people on the southeast side of town about the train traffic, the noise, and blocking St. Patrick Street for example. It makes it harder to get through that area when trains are doing their switching movements. So, by relocating the switching movements we believe we can free up traffic in a large part of our community," Harrington said.

Harrington added the study will reveal if a relocation is feasible and if so what locations are possible.

The study is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2025 or early 2026.