Chubbuck enters tri-party agreement to build safer railroad crossings

CHUBBUCK – The city of Chubbuck has approved an agreement with a company and a government agency to help increase safety at both its railroad crossings.

At its meeting on Wednesday evening, the City Council voted unanimously to authorize an agreement among the city, Union Pacific Railroad and the Idaho Transportation Department to rebuild the railroad crossing on East Chubbuck Road. This rebuild will consist of replacing the existing crossing signal equipment, pouring new road and sidewalk infrastructure and adding raised center medians at the crossing.

Public Works Director Bridger Morrison said that because of the center median, the project will improve the safety of the crossing, because it will “prevent vehicles from being able to drive around the end of the gates.”

This most recently authorized agreement is similar, with only “some minor differences,” to an already signed agreement from last year to rebuild the New Day Parkway railroad crossing.

Because both of the crossing arms come down from each side of the road in the current crossing configuration, drivers growing impatient with an incoming train are able to weave through the middle of the two bars.

“(This) puts them in a potential conflict with the train. The gates are there for a reason, and so if someone drives around, it’s a pretty big risk that they may get hit by the train,” Morrison said.

The crossing’s new configuration, Morrison said, will have the arms connected to a mechanism in the center median, and lower from that direction. To allow the train to continue through the crossing unimpeded, the center median will have a break in the middle.

Union Pacific wants to complete these projects in conjunction with one another, Morrison said, saying they’d “likely” complete one crossing first and then start on the other one right after that.

Burch affirmed this during the City Council meeting, saying, “We’ve also been told by the railroad that they won’t move forward with the (New Day Parkway) piece until this is signed, because they want to do the projects in conjunction. So it is very important for us to seek approval of this.”

Before this authorization, the city paid for the preliminary design work conducted by the railroad. By authorizing the agreement, the city agrees to pay for and pour new asphalt, curbs and gutters, as well as the new center medians and sidewalk across the railroad tracks.

Union Pacific has agreed to install the new railroad crossing equipment, construct the railroad-side elements of the project and take on the initial costs, which are estimated to be just over $900,000. And for its part of the agreement, ITD has agreed to reimburse Union Pacific’s costs.

While a construction timeline for the project has not been finalized yet, Morrison said the agreement as written requires construction to start within a year.

“Our hope is that it’s within that kind of timeframe, but we don’t have any type of schedule yet,” Morrison said.