(The following story by Gretta Becay appeared on the Post-Bulletin website on August 14, 2009.)
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Landowners in Dodge County have found a government entity to stand with them against a proposed rail bypass: the Dodge County Regional Rail Authority.
In an emotional plea, Mark Moenning asked the five members of the authority, “Please make a decision as the first separate governmental body to say no to the bypass and to support only the existing line.”
The members of the authority, who are the Dodge County commissioners, voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing the Southern Rail Corridor, citing reasons including environmental concerns, economic impacts, and safety and access issues.
Several speakers addressed the rail authority at its first meeting Thursday at the Dodge County Courthouse in Mantorville. About 70 people attended.
The Southern Rail Corridor would re-route trains from the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad mainline through downtown Rochester to a new line around the city’s south side. The re-route is intended to remove train traffic near Mayo Clinic to prevent disasters and possibly to open a new line for passenger rail service. The corridor would then head west through Dodge County before going north to the Twin Cities.
The resolution approved by the authority reads, “The plan and route were proposed by the Rochester Coalition and supported by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep Tim Walz and U.S. Rep Jim Oberstar without consulting any Dodge County officials.”
County Administrator David McKnight was instructed by the commissioners to invite these politicians to a meeting to explain their support of the project.
At the meeting, a statement by Scot Bjornson was read, saying the “urgent” reason for the bypass, future coal trains that might travel through Rochester, would likely never appear.
Bjornson states, “281 miles of new track would have to be built at a cost of over $2 billion to Canadian Pacific before more coal trains could even get to Rochester.” Canadian Pacific now owns DM&E.
Moenning said that in 1997, a $2.33 billion federal loan to DM&E was denied because it was considered to be a high risk to tax payers. That loan was to be used to construct the line to the coalfields in Wyoming and Montana.
The rail authority’s president, David Hanson, said the commissioners had recently met with two safety experts from the railroad who had explained the safety precautions trains take before entering Rochester. He also noted that trucks are 16 times more likely to have an accident than a train.
Commissioner Don Gray said representatives of Canadian Pacific have stated they would not claim ownership of the bypass if it were built and would therefore not maintain it.
The rail authority also declined to own or maintain the line if it were built.
After the meeting, one participant said, “Life’s hard enough without the railroad cutting your farm in half.”