(The Associated Press circulated the following on April 14.)
PHOENIX, Ariz. — State regulators are saying “not so fast” to Union Pacific’s plan to add a second track to its main line across southern Arizona, a project that the railroad says would allow more trains to use a route with burgeoning traffic from California ports.
Officials of Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific said they plan to ask the Arizona Corporation Commission for permission to modify 50 existing road grade-crossings to accommodate the double-track project along the Arizona portion of its “Sunset Route” main line between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas.
Commissioners acknowledged that the double-track project could help the state’s economic development and possibly relieve traffic-clogged Interstate 10, a cross-country highway that parallels much of the Sunset Route, by putting more freight on trains instead of trucks.
However, several commissioners also suggested that Union Pacific isn’t taking Arizona’s rapid population growth and safety concerns into account and that some of the lights-and-gates grade crossings should be converted into overpasses or underpasses as part of the project.
Waiting for individual communities to work out cost-sharing deals with the railroad to build new bridges doesn’t make sense because costs likely would be inflated in the meantime, Commissioner Kris Mayes said at a hearing Thursday. “By that point, it’s too late.”
The commission doesn’t have jurisdiction over the double-track project itself, but the five-member, elected commission’s duties include oversight of railroad safety, including road and rail crossings.
Though the 50 crossings are located from Bowie on the east to Yuma on the west, the outcome probably could be felt most keenly in fast-developing communities between Phoenix and Tucson, such as Casa Grande, Marana and Maricopa.
Underpasses and overpasses eliminate automobile-train collisions that can happen at grade-level crossings, and they also allow road traffic to flow without regard for passing trains.
“I have to believe that one or two of the 50 would benefit from grade separation,” said Commissioner Jeff Hatch-Miller.
However, the so-called “grade separation” crossings – the overpasses or underpasses – are significantly more expensive.
Union Pacific says it plans to spend $18.4 million rebuilding the 50 crossings and on related work, an average of $368,000 apiece. A railroad official said underpasses or overpasses can cost $10 million to $30 million each.
Chris Peterson, Union Pacific director of government affairs, said the double-tracking is needed for trains hauling containers and trailers full of goods offloaded from ships at Los Angeles and Long Beach. The Sunset Route can accommodate 45-50 trains daily. Double-tracking across Arizona would allow it to add an additional 60-70 trains. Union Pacific’s main competitor, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, already has a double-track main line across northern Arizona.
Union Pacific contends the 50 crossings would be safe if they’re fitted with lights, gates and appropriate road signs – and if motorists obey the law by stopping for trains.
“The public receives the vast majority of the benefit” from conversions to underpasses and overpasses, Peterson said. “The railroad receives a marginal benefit.”
Any need for underpasses or overpasses should be considered when local communities are ready with road traffic projections and money to help pay for them, Peterson said.
“The desire for grade separations at those locations is not driven by the double-track project . . . but it’s driven by the increase in motor vehicle traffic and the number of citizens and residents of the community,” he said.
Mayes said the railroad’s argument that the public should bear most of the cost of underpasses or overpasses because it gets most of the benefit “makes no sense whatsoever.” It’s the railroad that plans to double the number of trains and likely clog road traffic at crossings, she said.