An issue with the railroad tracks in the industrial park will result in an emergency short term repair and long term solution. Derrick McIntyre from Motive Rail explained the issue to the City Council at Monday’s meeting. He said the traffic on the road is on a downhill pitch and that is causing a shift in the rail crossing, making it dangerous to run the locomotive and cars across the area. City Administrator Darin Chappell says a permanent fix is to cut the road back about 20 feet on either side of the tracks and level the approach. He says because the railroad is needed immediately, they will do a temporary fix and replace the crossing.
The temporary fix is estimated at $35,000.
The panels that will be replaced when they do the temporary fix will be reused in the permanent fix.
When they pull the panels on the crossing, they may find a temporary fix cannot be made, so they will coordinate with a contractor and engineer to be ready to make the permanent fix right away if necessary. Because this is considered an emergency repair, no bidding is required.
