Railroad crossing work being pondered by engineer

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

New crossings over rural railroad tracks in rural Henry County may be on the horizon.

Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss told county supervisors during Tuesday?s regular board meeting that he is toying with the idea for improvements on rail crossings on Marsh, Nebraska, Oasis and possible OakBerry avenues.

?They would be an expensive projects,? Hotchkiss reported. ?The railroad wants to rebuild the subgrade below the crossing. The approaches will also be replaced.?

Asphalt would be used for the approaches and concrete would replace wood on the crossings, Hotchkiss added.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) approached the county, he said, to look at improvements for the crossings. The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) has a program for railroad crossing improvements.

Terms of the program have the state funding 60 percent of the project cost, the railroad and county would each pick up 20 percent of the bill. The BNSF is estimating the county?s share at $50,000.

?The figures are preliminary estimates and may be on the high end,? the engineer said. If the county participates in the program, its share of the cost would come from the construction fund.

?The program has been there for quite a while,? Hotchkiss noted. ?These crossings need attention. Right now I am not asking for anything. I am looking at it and think it is necessary.?

Jones Contracting, of West Point, was the apparent successful bidder for the reconstruction of a city street (Winfield Avenue) and county road from Grand Avenue east to the U.S. Highway 218 overpass. Jones was one of two bidders on the project and submitted a bid of $1,497,777.

The county and City of Mt. Pleasant are cost sharing the project with the county picking up 60 percent of the cost.

?It was a good bid,? the engineer remarked. ?I wasn?t surprised who bid on it because it is basically an urban job and the contractor is close to here. It was a good price, and I am very happy with it.?

Hotchkiss said the bid can be awarded after the county receives a packet of information from IDOT. He said the packet should arrive in the next week or two.

A motor grader operator to work from the Salem county roads department shed also is needed, the engineer said. The current operator is retiring. The job opening is posted on the county?s website and applications can also be picked up at the county engineer?s office.

Last week?s work by the secondary roads crew included finishing the stripping operation at the county quarry; continuing brush cutting on Quincy Avenue; hauling rock to various locations; and prepping kettle pots for crack sealing.

Other agenda items had the council approving liquor licenses for the Moose Lodge and East Grove Farms.

Supervisors meet again in regular session Thursday, March 2, at 9 a.m., at the courthouse.