Regulators expect safe, but slower crossings

Note: “Impact Unpacked” is a series on the findings of a draft environmental statement from regulators on the proposed merger between the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways. This article is the fourth of the series.

In its environmental impact statement to the Surface Transportation Board, the Office of Environmental Analysis (OEA) evaluates safety and delays at grade crossings — places where the rails meet a road or sidewalk at ground level — as a separate issue from overall rail safety.

The proposed CPKC line would include 1,352 such crossings. Of those, 1,134 are expected to see an uptick in daily trains. They range from remote rural spots used by less than 10 vehicles per day to busy urban areas that exceed 20,000 cars and trucks.

Across all affected communities, regulators said the merger’s increased rail traffic would have "only minor adverse effects“ on delays and accident rates at the crossings.

Worst delays in Eastern Iowa, Quad Cities

The OEA said blocked crossings would become more frequent if a CP-KCS merger went through, but that the duration of those delays would be lowered thanks to shorter loads on each train.

“Increases in rail traffic would increase the total amount of time during the day that some grade crossings would be closed to vehicle traffic, which would cause delay for drivers,” it said in the draft statement. “However, reductions in train lengths would reduce the average time a grade crossing would be blocked by each passing train.”

Additionally, the agency said a merger might indirectly reduce traffic delays nationwide, even in areas without railways.

“The amount of delay at crossings on other railroads in the U.S. and on roadways could decrease as the result of the diversion of trucks to rail and the diversion of rail traffic from other railroads to the combined CPKC network,” the document said.

The agency analyzed crossings that saw 2,500 or more vehicles per day, a move that keeps outliers from inflating expectations, but removes rural communities from its data. Of 207 crossings in Iowa, just 13 were included in the agency’s study.

On those paths, the officials calculated the average expected delay per vehicle from a merger, working out to a 0.7 second increase for every car. While that’s a slight change, it’s worth noting that this number represents the difference spread out over a population, not that every driver’s commute would lengthen by under a second.

The biggest change in the nation would happen in Davenport, where the OEA said drivers using Ripley Street would see the average delay rise by 7.3 seconds per vehicle.

While not included in the study, an appendix for the packet contains a wealth of minutiae on the proposed merger’s impact for every single crossing. For cities in Washington, Louisa, Muscatine and Keokuk counties, the average gate-down time per train is expected to fall from 3.3 minutes to 2.6 thanks to shortened trains. For some of Wapello County, it would drop from 4 to 2.6.

That reduction, however, would be offset by the growing frequency of rail traffic, an expected increase of 14.41 trains per day in Washington County.

Some small towns have complaints as a result.

“At least 2-3 times a week we are unable to go from one side of town to (the) other,” a written public comment from the city of Letts in Louisa County said. “There are times that crossings are blocked two hours … with this merger, it can only mean more trains.”

Delays overlap with local safety issues

In some situations, traffic delays are more than an inconvenience. For emergency response vehicles, a few minutes or seconds waiting for a train can have major repercussions. The same concern exists for access to important facilities like water treatment plants.

It’s a worry many communities have spotlighted.

“While the proposed merger will help expand our regional economy, there are safety and accessibility concerns regarding the substantial increase in freight traffic,” a letter from the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce to the STB said. “Many of our businesses, cultural amenities, and public utilities … become inaccessible. With only one access point to many of these properties, increased rail traffic may cause severe disruptions in business operations, prevent timely access of emergency services and access to critical infrastructure.”

The OEA studied 28 crossings classified as “emergency routes” by the Federal Railroad Administration database, the roads most likely to see use by first responders. On average, those crossing would see a slightly greater increase in train-related delays, 1.0 seconds instead of 0.7.

Alternate routes are not always available.

“All of the grade crossings along emergency vehicle routes have an alternate route,” the OEA packet said. “For all 28 crossings, however, the alternate route also involves a grade crossing, which could also result in delay if both routes were to be delayed by a train.”

In a worst-case scenario, communities and regulators have highlighted a risk of trains stopping on the tracks, a rare but frustrating event that lasts an average of 24 to 97.5 minutes, depending on the community, according to the draft document.

“Blocked crossings can impact public safety, especially if there are no feasible alternate routes,” the OEA document said. “Further, blocked crossings may cause trucks to take detours on local streets that might not be equipped to handle trucks.”

Regulators don’t expect major jump in crossing accidents

While the OEA said the rate of incidents would be minimally impacted, it still projected more than the status quo thanks to the climbing traffic.

That said, the agency said crossings would remain mostly safe if CP’s acquisition of KCS is finalized.

Absent a merger, the OEA projected a national average of 19.1 crashes per year at crossings where train use would otherwise spike — a number identical to the national average across all railways — as opposed to 24.9 per year if the proposal goes through.

According to data in the packet’s appendix — a separate document of over 4,000 pages — the impact on crossing safety varies drastically from one location to the next.

In Washington County, the biggest change would be at North F. Avenue, where the number of years between crashes under a merger is projected to fall from 198 to 109, although such a rate would still make it the safest in the county.

The riskiest spot in the county would continue to be Third Street in Ainsworth, where the average years between incidents would go from 32 to 24, the smallest change of the area.

“In general, crossings with less traffic volume and more safety measures (such as gates and flashers) have the lowest predicted crashes and the lowest increase in predicted crashes,” the impact assessment said. “The crossings with the highest projected increases in train volumes have the largest increase in predicted crashes, but these crossings also have less protection (such as passive protection.)”

The biggest increase in risk is far from Iowa, at a crossing in Hungerford Texas where officials said the community could expect another crash every 36 years. The spot already has the worst train-vehicle collision total in the nation.

As with delays and non-crossing incidents, officials said the merger might indirectly decrease the national rate of accidents at railroad crossings and on roads.

“While OEA thus expects that the Proposed Acquisition would result in an increase in the number of crashes in the study area, the number of crashes at crossings along other rail lines in the U.S. and on roadways could decrease as the result of the diversion of rail traffic from other rail lines … and the diversion of truck traffic to rail traffic,” the packet said.

Mitigation efforts focus on community collaboration

While the OEA had no specific suggestions to Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, the applicants offered their own voluntary measures.

Those approaches share a theme of communication with the municipalities impacted by the merger. The companies pledged to consult with local authorities on crossing visibility and detour routes. Additionally, they said they would put in legwork to help those communities with their own solutions.

“The Applicants will, upon request, work with potentially affected communities in support of securing funding, in conjunction with appropriate state agencies, for crossing mitigation projects where they may be appropriate,” another section of the packet said. “For the construction of additional track through road crossings … where practicable, the Applicants will consult with local transportation officials regarding detours and associated signs … or attempt to maintain at least one open lane of traffic.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com