COLUMBUS -- Railroad crossings at 21st, 23rd, 25th and 26th Avenues will be closed simultaneously for two to three days in late September and again in November with the crossings reopened as they are completed.
The timing of temporary crossing closures was a primary concern raised by the Committee of the Whole Monday evening during a presentation by Union Pacific Railroad Co. Councilman John Lohr was absent.
Mike Benjamin, manager of industry and public projects for Union Pacific, reported that signal improvements and shifting the tracks along downtown Columbus require closure of crossings from 21st Avenue to 26th Avenue.
The tentative start date for improvements to the downtown section of track is Sept. 1 with completion scheduled to occur on or before Feb. 1, 2009, the scheduled date for the Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) to close the 33rd Avenue viaduct as part of the reconstruction process.
Following completion of the downtown railroad improvements, Benjamin said, construction of the spur line to serve the ADM Inc. expansion, Columbus Metals Inc. and Katana Summit LLC. would require closure of Third, East 14th and East 29th Avenue crossings.
Each of those three crossings are scheduled for staggered closures, lasting approximately two weeks each, to conduct work on the track. That project is scheduled to begin in September with track, signal and bridge work to be completed no later than June 2009.
Additional track replacement from Schuyler to Silver Creek, with work in the Columbus area expected to be completed in September 2009, could also create additional short-term blockage of crossings.
When asked if the city could take any action to limit the number of crossing closures or if there were any agreements in place that would require council action for improvements, City Attorney Stephen Hansen said he would review past agreements but currently knew of none. Also, because the Union Pacific would be working on its own right-of-way there was nothing the city could do to affect the closures.
Councilman Joe Jarecke, committee member, asked the Union Pacific representatives if these improvement projects can wait until the 33rd Avenue viaduct reconstruction project is completed.
Brenda Mainwaring, Union Pacific director of public affairs for Nebraska and Iowa, said the Union Pacific’s amended construction schedule was initiated due to NDOR’s decision to complete the reconstruction project under closed conditions.
“We want to make sure you have crossings to get across when the overpass is closed,” Mainwaring said, and delaying the projects until after the overpass is completed would delay those improvements by years.
So rather than delay the Union Pacific projects, the company decided to bump up its construction schedule so the work would be completed before the viaduct closed, she said.
In a worst case scenario, should the downtown work not be completed by Feb. 1, 2009, the Union Pacific and NDOR would coordinate schedules to try to push back the viaduct closure date.
“They will adapt their schedule to meet our needs,” Mainwaring said. “There is no reason to believe it won’t be done in a timely fashion.”
“We are part of Columbus,” she said, and the Union Pacific is attempting to minimize the number of inconveniences for the community during this process.
Print This Story
Email This Story
