Oskaloosa council discusses Union Pacific agreement for South 31st Street crossing; safety and costs weigh heavily

Oskaloosa city and county officials on April 20 reviewed a proposed agreement with Union Pacific Railroad to upgrade the public highway grade crossing on South 31st Street, a component of the city’s Southeast Connector project.

Andy McGuire, who identified himself as the county engineer, told the council the carrier is requesting a one-time payment of $2,000 for rights to perform work and a larger construction payment recorded in the meeting record as roughly $1,016,000; the transcript also lists unspecified flagging and traffic-control costs and annual maintenance and signal fees that McGuire said would begin three years after construction and “total up to about $16,400” per year. McGuire said about 65% of the construction work is currently RISE-eligible, while the maintenance costs are not.

“Should the council not move forward with approving this agreement, there may be some implications…with the RISE grant piece,” McGuire said, urging the council to first identify those implications before voting the measure down. He said the RISE grant application submitted previously included the railroad crossing upgrades as part of the project scope.

Council members pressed the county engineer on the scope of work and the basis for the railroad’s charges. McGuire said the scope has expanded since the original RISE application to include signals, crossing gates, pavement markings and lane reconfiguration intended to reduce the risk of traffic stopping on the tracks. He described the railroad’s cost estimates as based on standardized ‘‘unit’’ rates tied to industry guidance from the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association.

“I wouldn’t say jeopardize the next phase… but before council would say vote down, it would be my recommendation to find out a little bit more about what those implications would be,” McGuire said.

Other council members questioned the value of the expense given current low rail traffic at the location. McGuire acknowledged present usage is limited but said planned regional development — including a transload facility and a 500-acre certified industrial site — and the planned connector alignment to Osborne Avenue mean the crossing could see more traffic in the future.

The discussion in the transcript did not record a final council vote on the Union Pacific agreement; McGuire recommended the council seek additional information on long-term obligations tied to maintenance fees and the RISE grant before making a decision. The council’s next procedural step on the item was not specified in the recorded segments.