New Maintenance Fee from Railroad Burdens City and Cancels Crosswalk at Amtrak

The railroads seem bound and determined to make us loathe them!

We desperately need better passenger rail and the more freight we can put on rail the fewer big semis we have on the roads.

But the railroads do not prompt sympathy and affection.

Recently there was the great national struggle for paid sick days.

The latest insult, albeit on a much smaller scale, is a proposed TIP amendment at SKATS. The railroad seems to see safe urban crossings not as a cost of business, but as an amenity, and extra, that others can be billed for. This is likely another legacy of the antiquated 19th century legal framework the railroads enjoy.

To cancel a needed connection to Amtrak

The amendment:

Cancel project due to Union Pacific railroad imposing new annual maintenance fee on updated rail crossings and scope expansion. Note, the new maintenance fee was estimated at $20k to $25k annually. UPRR requested upgrade to signaling equipment for all level crossings in quiet zone.

Project Description: Install raised medians and a marked crosswalk connecting the AMTRAK Station to the Salem Promenade, add additional and updated railroad equipment, and improve the roadway condition and approaches for safer vehicular operation and enhanced design features to better meet the ADA guidelines

This had already been delayed multiple times from 2020 to 2024, and now it looks to be deleted altogether.

Here's the latest design I had, from 2017.

A serpentine three-stage crossing on Mill St.
(White text, black text, black arrows added)

The connection between Promenade and Depot is lousy. Between the medians and coarse crushed rock and gravel, the best way might seem to be straight down the middle of the tracks - which of course is highly discouraged. Crossing Mill there in any way is difficult for people on bike, and nearly impossible for those in wheelchairs and scooters. It's anti-ADA compliant!

So cancelling this project would be a meaningful loss.

I don't know what the alternatives are, or who initiated the cancellation amendment. Maybe there will be more to say later.

Comments can be submitted through noon on July 25th to Steve Dobrinich, via email at
sdobrinich@mwvcog.org, though from here it's very hard to say what a constructive form of comment or critique might look like. (Tell the railroad to play nice? Right.)

See previously:

• "Crossing 12th at Mill Street" (2009)
• "Holiday Travel Offers Reminder of 12th and Mill's Difficulty" (2011)
• "12th and Mill: Not Getting Better?" (2012)
• "Whackadoodle Crossing on Mill near 12th at SESNA" (2016)
• "12th and Mill Project a Surprise on OTC Agenda" (2017)

Separately, with the new website, and perhaps other factors also, SKATS is publishing meeting notices for the Safety Action Plan Steering Committee. They meet on Thursday the 13th at 3:30pm. There is no agenda or meeting packet.