Railway Track & Structures - June 2008 - (Page 68)

CHICAGO PERSPECTIVE Pondering on grade crossings I f you enjoy dealing with public controversy, there are few places to find such work in our industry that rival grade crossings. When motorists roll over the tracks, any bumpiness means that the lazy, cheap old railroad is making life hard for them. If I have a nickel for every photo of a rough crossing that included a caption with the words “war zone,” I could have retired comfortably years ago. And crossing blockage has to rank right up there with selling drugs in the public eye. Very few things will get people off their couches to storm public meetings and badger public officials than a proposed increase in crossing blockage time. Look around here in Chicago. As we all know, the CN is proposing to acquire the EJ&E. That’s a good move for the entire area. Chicago’s rail infrastructure is outdated and incapable of handling even today’s rail traffic efficiently. If it takes a freight car 24 hours or more to get through Chicago today, how long will it take when the massive freight increases economists are forecasting come into being? This acquisition is an excellent example of the industry going forward on its own. CN is putting up $300 millon of its own money to acquire the “J” and another $100 million to upgrade its infrastructure. Railroads can’t upgrade all the infrastructure on their own, which is why there are projects like CREATE in the Chicago area. But here’s a case where a railroad is stepping forward with its own funds, not waiting for government to get its act together. That’s great. Everyone should be happy about that, right? Ha! Because it will cause more blocked crossings, some people are up in arms. Hundreds have attended meetings, lobbyists are being hired, and hours and hours of time by local elected officials and their staffs are being focused on the issue. Federal elected officials have been dragged into the affair and are making lots of noise. Why? Oh, there are lots of very rational excuses, but the bottom line always comes down to, “Don’t block my crossings.” There are so many serious problems out there on all levels—war, pollution terrorism, oil and gas prices, crime, housing, credit and so on—why is it that blocking crossings for a few minutes more a day draws so much vociferous opposition? I strongly support the proposed merger. I think it’s good for the area and a big step in providing greatly-needed infrastructure improvements. But it’s only part of a much bigger picture. As freight traffic increases, there will be more trains out there. There’s no doubt about that. People were forecasting double-digit increases over the next decade or two even before the price of a barrel of oil virtually doubled, which will mean fuel-efficient railroads should see even bigger traffic increases. How can railroads build themselves up to handle that increase if they have to fight so hard every time there’s a proposed increase in grade-crossing train traffic? The people fighting this probably think railroads don’t offer them any benefits. They don’t ride trains and they don’t realize how much of everything they use in their daily lives moves by rail. Most of them don’t realize how much of a role railroads will have to play as our country strives to deal with the depleting fossil fuel situation. That’s evidenced by the demonization of railroads I’ve seen in this current battle. The only thought is stop the merger. Then everything will be fine. There are no other solutions being offered, with the possible exception of CN paying for a couple of billion dollars worth of grade separations. Now’s the time to dust off suggestions made years ago to eliminate grade crossings in this nation. It will take a massive public works effort, but it would mean that the folks fighting rail projects such as this one would be mollified. If trains aren’t blocking their crossings, they really don’t care one way or the other. Can we do it? Yes, we can. The country needs a massive infrastructure upgrade anyway, so let’s include the elimination of grade crossings. It would be good for all of us. George S. Sokulski Associate Publisher 68 Railway Track & Structures June 2008 www.rands.com http://www.rands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - June 2008

Railway Track & Structures - June 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Grade Crossings Provide Interface Between Railroads, Public Grade-Crossing Equipment & Materials Guide Fastener Suppliers Getting a Grip Grinding Plays Part in Rail Maintenance Big Picture Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.