Funding the issue for rail crossing upgrades

Pleas were made for improved railroad crossings at two locations in particular during Tuesday's public meeting by the Arizona Corporation Commission on potential safety issues of Union Pacific's plans to double track the Sunset Route through the community.

But the issue comes down to who will pay for the grade separations, either underpasses or overpasses, said Gary Pierce, the lone commissioner at the meeting. He explained that his fellow commissioners were busy preparing for Arizona Public Service Co. rate hearings.

"It's an interesting dilemma," Pierce said. "Union Pacific probably isn't willing to bear the cost and the community doesn't have the money. If it must be done, the financing needs to be sorted out."

Chris Peterson, the Arizona representative for Union Pacific, said federal regulations that when federal money is used for a project, "the railroad should pay 5 percent." The local share in some cases is also 5 percent, with the rest being federal dollars.

"We do evaluate each project individually," he said. And in some cases, it's possible UP would pay more."

He noted that there is no economic benefit to the railroad of grade separations. Trains don't run faster or with less crew or with more cars as a result, Peterson said.

"My primary concern is the crossing at Avenue 9E," said Paul Johnson, a Yuma city councilman who spoke as a private citizen. "That is a key school bus crossing. Double tracking will greatly increase the danger to school children being bused or driven to school."

He said an estimated 3,800 students attend elementary and junior high schools in the vicinity of Avenue 9E, with the expected opening of Gila Ridge High School in the fall to bring another 2,500 students.

"All the buses cross that 9E grade crossing," Johnson said, adding that traffic counts for that route already exceed minimal federal guidelines for a grade separation.

Wellton officials, meanwhile, are concerned about the impact on the growing community of the railroad crossing that splits the town at Avenue 29E.

Most of the community's public services are on the north side, said Bryan Patterson, a Phoenix engineer who is a consultant for the town of Wellton in its efforts to get a grade separation.

With development of Coyote Wash on the south side, there is increasing traffic on Avenue 29E, the main route connecting the two areas, he said. That raises issues of safety for motorists and trains, and increasing train traffic is causing delays for emergency vehicles, school buses and businesses.

The need for a grade separation at the Avenue 29E crossing has been talked about for some time and was listed as a "needed improvement

project" in the March 2007 Yuma Metropolitan Planning Organization Regional Transportation Plan, Patterson said.

Complaints about rail crossings can be filed by calling the ACC at 1-800-222-7000 or e-mail railroad.azcc.gov.

Peterson also encouraged people to call Union Pacific at 1-800-848-8715 with the concerns.

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.