(The following story by Sarah J. Boggan appeared on the East Valley Tribune website on December 28.)
EAST VALLEY, Ariz. — Lack of action from Union Pacific Railroad threatens to hold up an underpass project that would improve traffic flow and safety in Queen Creek, town officials said.
In response, the Town Council last week approved funds to hire a lawyer to obtain permits giving the town’s contractor access to railroad property for underpass construction.
The railroad underpass at Rittenhouse Road is part of the town’s Ellsworth Loop Road project that will route traffic around the heart of downtown.
Until access is approved, the contractor can’t set foot on the site, and town officials are concerned it could delay the project, said Dick Schaner, the town’s special projects coordinator.
Queen Creek officials said project plans were approved by the railroad last summer but Union Pacific has been slow to respond to permit requests.
“In working with the railroad, getting feedback on the status and a schedule is a real problem,” Schaner said. “The railroad hardly ever will give you a schedule. They’ll only tell you what their process is.”
Schaner said town officials want approval from Union Pacific by mid to late January, but if that is not the case, they need the lawyer to intervene.
“If we get positive feedback from the railroad, our hope is that we won’t need to use the lawyer,” Schaner said. “We just can’t gamble.”
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said he isn’t familiar with Queen Creek’s specific project but that the railroad has been working with the town through the planning process and will continue to do so through construction.
“We encourage communities to construct over/underpasses to separate the crossing between vehicles and trains — that eliminates the possibility of having a collision,” Davis said. “It’s a process we support, while at the same time we have to ensure, as with any type of construction in and around the railroad, that it not only meets standards but that it also doesn’t upset the railroad track structure.”
Schaner said Union Pacific has been onboard since the project’s start about two years ago.
“At the moment, we don’t feel that we are behind schedule,” Schaner said. “We still feel as long as we can get this (approval) in the next month, we can still complete the project on the original schedule.”
The original schedule shows the underpass will be completed in March 2008.