Rail consolidation chugging along
RAIL | Patrick Yeagle
Springfield’s ongoing rail consolidation project could soon take a step forward, even as state lawmakers add a new layer of oversight.
Construction on two new underpasses for the 10 th Street rail corridor is scheduled to begin next summer, and an underpass already under construction is due for completion later this year if weather permits. Meanwhile, the state legislature last week approved a bill creating an oversight panel for the project.
Jim Moll is a project manager for Hanson Professional Services in Springfield, the lead engineering firm overseeing the rail relocation project. Moll provided an update on the project to the Springfield City Council on July 7, saying that the proposed underpasses for Ash Street at 10 th and Laurel Street at 10 th could be combined into one contract to save money and speed up construction. The cost of the two underpasses would be an estimated $48 million, Moll said, adding that about 75 percent of the engineering has been completed for those two underpasses, and land acquisition will begin soon. Construction would last from next summer until 2018 and would be staged so that both roads aren’t closed at the same time.
Moll said a significant portion of the $48 million total cost would come from the Illinois Commerce Commission, which has already promised $10 million toward the Ash Street underpass.
“We’ve gone back to them and suggested ‘One underpass for $10 million? How about two underpasses for $15 million?’ Since the goal of their grade crossing protection fund is to build new underpasses, they were very interested in that. I think we’ll be successful in getting $15 million from the ICC.”
Moll said the ICC can then order the Norfolk Southern Railroad, which currently occupies the 10 th Street corridor, to contribute $1.5 million toward the project, while the City of Springfield would add another $1.5 million. Further funding could come from a $16 million grant from the federal Department of Transportation, $12 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation and $2 million from the Federal Railroad Administration.
“We’re very confident we can have that money in place this time next year to begin the award on that contract,” Moll said.
The overall rail relocation project could be completed in eight years, Moll said, assuming all of the funding comes through.
Meanwhile, Moll told the city council that the Union Pacific Railroad would like to increase its train speeds on the Third Street rail corridor, which is due for eventual relocation´to 10 th Street. In order to increase train speeds and eventually create a no-horn “quiet zone,” the railroad must install four-way crossing guards that prevent cars from going around barriers. Additionally, the railroad must install fencing on both sides of the tracks and improve certain bridges and road crossings along the corridor. The total cost, Moll said, could be as much as $35 million.
Ward 8 Ald. Kris Theilen asked whether improving the Third Street corridor would endanger the rail relocation project.
“Isn’t it kind of cart-before-the-horse if we’re putting millions of dollars into the Third Street corridor to then have them close it?” Theilen said.
Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder said he doesn’t support spending more money on the Third Street corridor, especially because a higher train speed limit could increase the risk of derailments. He wants to use the money which would be spent on the Third Street corridor to further the rail relocation project on the 10th Street corridor.
The Illinois General Assembly last week approved a bill creating a commission to provide oversight of the rail relocation project, attempting to ensure that the tenets of a “Rail Community Benefits Agreement” are upheld. The agreement, pushed by the Springfieldbased Faith Coalition for the Common Good, was signed by the City of Springfield, the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Sangamon County Board and others. Among benefits called for in the agreement are specific percentages of money spent on job training for minorities and women, hiring quotas for minorities and women, and fair compensation for displaced landowners.
State Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, and Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, sponsored the bill to create an oversight commission for the project after the Faith Coalition determined that the benefits agreement was not being fulfilled to the group’s standards.
Representatives of Hanson Professional Services say the project has surpassed the hiring goals set in the agreement, while a retired African-American judge has been assigned to administer the land acquisition process.
The Illinois Senate passed the oversight bill, House Bill 3765, with near unanimous approval in May, and the Illinois House passed it with a 113-0 vote on July 9. The bill must now be sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner for approval, although the strong show of support in both chambers makes a veto unlikely.
Contact Patrick Yeagle at pyeagle@illinoistimes.com.
For more information on the rail relocation project, visit www.springfieldrailroad.com.
