Smoother ride ahead for rough railroad crossing

"Rough Crossing" signs went up recently to warn drivers.

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad Company (CC) are aware of the situation and working together on a solution.

(Sentinel photo by Amy Erickson) Signs on Highway 3 warn drivers of the upcoming rough railroad crossing adjacent to Fareway. The Iowa Department of Transportation and the railroad company are working together on a solution to make the crossing smoother. That work is tentatively scheduled for next spring. [Click to enlarge]

Travis Pinken, DOT construction coordinator out of Aimes, said the tentative schedule is to do the repairs "first thing in the spring."

It's not an easy fix, he said, because of the layout of the railroad track.

"They've got a curve and we've got a flat road," Pinken said. "We're limited on how much traffic change we can make to the roadway."

Because of the curve, the track has one rail higher than the other to avoid putting too much pressure on one rail over the other, Pinken said.

A possible solution may include lowering the road on one side or raising it on the other and trying to minimize the elevation of the tracks through the intersection, Pinken said.

"It's not getting done as fast as I would like," he said of the repair. "We've got a full schedule this year and only so much money."

That repairs are on the way for the Highway 3 crossing is good news.

But what about other rough railroad crossings throughout Le Mars like the one on Fourth Avenue Northeast near Archie's Waeside?

Le Mars City Administrator Scott Langel said he has put in a request with the railroad company CC twice to repair the crossing, but has not heard anything back.

"That's been rough for several years," Langel said of the Fourth Avenue Northeast crossing.

The city has salvage material leftover from Third Avenue West, which used to be a street, that can be used to help with repairs to the crossing, which currently has wooden ties with asphalt on top, Langel said.

He would like to see the wood and asphalt layers removed and the tracks made with the pre-cast concrete from the former road, but the decision is not up to city officials.

"The city cannot work on the main (railroad) line," Langel said.

That's the responsibility of the railroad company, said Mary Jo Key, grade crossing surface repair program manager with the DOT.

"The city can file a complaint with the railroad," Key said. "Sometimes they will come in and do remedial repairs."

The state offers an application-based 60-20-20 Crossing Surface Repair Program. Through it the state pays 60 percent, the railroad pays 20 percent and the city or county pays 20 percent for rail crossing repairs, Key said.

"These applications can be submitted by the road authority or the railroad," she said. "The waiting list is approximately four years."

Langel said in the past Le Mars officials have always contacted the railroad company and tried to work out a deal between the two entities.

"Sometimes we purchase the material. Other times if they have used (materials) they will offer that," Langel said. "These days that is not as common."

Now Union Pacific (UP) Railroad Company requires a more formal process when it comes to making repairs to its lines, Langel said.

Iowa's 60-20-20 program receives $900,000 annually from the Road Use Tax Fund and projects are paid for in the order in which applications are received, according to the DOT website.

"We have used that in the past, but not recently," Langel said.

In addition to the Crossing Surface Repair Program, $1 million has also been set aside since 2002 from the state's safety fund to use to help make railroad crossings safer, Key said.

"This program allows us to go out and do (repair) things that are worse than other ones," Pinken said.

That's how the Highway 3 crossing in Le Mars moved to the top of the list so quickly.

"This last year it's been getting really bad," Pinken said. "I'm very sympathetic about the people who have to go over it every day."

Mark Davis, director of corporate relations and media for UP, said a track inspector visually checks out a railroad line three times a week or more.

"As far as our employees driving over them, they usually don't do that because they are on the rail," Davis said.

If anyone has a concern about a railroad crossing they can call the "railroad police" at 1-888-uprr-cop or 1-888-877-7267.