(The following story by Mark Havnes appeared on The Salt Lake Tribune website on July 31.)
MILFORD, Utah — No more reading Harry Potter, polishing those nails or catching some Z’s at the railroad crossing in Milford – thanks to a new overpass that keeps cars and trucks whizzing instead of waiting.
For more than a century, this southwestern Utah town has been a switching station for Union Pacific. But those same trains that bring economic vitality to the area, also demanded patience from motorists forced to wait up to 30 minutes as trains lurched forward and backward, adding and subtracting rail cars.
“The train traffic was increasing, and delays to get across the tracks were becoming extreme,” Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Myron Lee said Monday. “This was happening several times a day, but now drivers are no longer required to stop.”
The new $5.5 million overpass – in the works for decades – has been carrying State Route 21 motorists over the creak and clang of the rail cars below since Saturday. It will be dedicated at a ceremony in late August.
“We still have a few cones to move and cleanup to do,” Lee said.
The project, which began a year ago, was built with a special infusion of money from the 2003 Legislature.
Rick Torgerson, UDOT projects manager for southwestern Utah, said the structure spans three existing tracks and leaves room for a fourth to be added.
P and K Contractors worked with U.P. to coordinate construction.
“You get between 30 and 40 trains a day through there, so when you’re swinging beams, you need some cooperation,” Torgerson said. “Union Pacific was cooperative through the whole process. Everybody came together, including the town and the county, on a project that works.”
Former Beaver County Commissioner Mark Whitney helped coordinate funding for the overpass from U.P., UDOT and the Legislature.
“They [UDOT] told us it [project] was dead in the water more than once,” Whitney said. “But I said, ‘I’m not giving up, I’ll find the money,’ and now we’re looking at a new overpass.”
Whiney argues the viaduct – like the trains rolling beneath it – will prop up the area’s economy.
“The overpass allows more room for the railroad to expand its yard,” he said. “It’s an economic boost toward further development.”
U.P. spokesman Mark Davis agrees that, while overpasses always benefit motorists and pedestrians, the railroad company stands to gain as well.
“We’re no longer encumbered with the probability of someone not paying attention at a crossing,” he said. “That’s good from a safety standpoint.”
And for those no longer able to snooze at the crossing, Davis offers a solution. “I guess now they’ll have to go to a Wal-Mart parking lot.”