Area residents will have an opportunity to talk about Union Pacific’s plans to double track the railroad line here when the state corporation commission comes to town.
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) will hold a public comment session at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 23, at the Willcox Community Center, 312 W. Stewart St.
Union Pacific Rail Road (UPRR) plans to expand operations by adding a second set of tracks in portions of Arizona, including Willcox. Local officials and residents are invited to share their comments and concerns with the commissioners, said Heather Murphy, the ACC’s public information officer.
In 2005, Union Pacific announced plans to expand its Sunset Route, a 760-mile rail corridor that extends from El Paso to Los Angeles. The Sunset Route passes through or near several Arizona communities that stand to be affected by the expansion.
City Manager Mike Leighton prompted the meeting in Willcox by writing to the commissioners about the potential impacts on the city and its residents, Murphy said.
“While the Commission cannot dictate where a railroad runs, the commissioners do oversee railroad safety,” she said.
The last time I was in Willcox, I noticed that the rails run along the town’s southern edge, not through its center. Unless there has been a LOT of new development there (highly improbable) the impact on the town should be somewhere between negligible and non-existent. OTOH, the impact on the town’s property tax receipts could be substantial.
I don’t know what the situation is there, but if there are ungated crossings, going to double track will be a definite safety hazard. With a single track, as soon as the train passes, you go. If you do that with double track, you may find yourself getting clobbered by a train coming from the other direction and hidden by the first train.
I would want UP to help defray the costs of putting in gated crossings.
Other than grade crossing safety, I wonder why would it even be an issue? The railroad is obviously doing it on their own right of way. Most of us know that up until the late 1970s, there were quite a number of double tracked mainlines in the U.S.
Question: Does Amtrak run trains currently on this route? If so, double tracking would likely be of beneift.[8D][2c]
This is a great post. I might even go to the meeting if I can swing some time.
It would definatly help Amtrak. They run it 3 or 4 times a week. We usually catch it out there while we camp but it is so hard to know when… Usually have about a 6 hour window to watch it fly by. But it more less its anyone’s guess.
I agree with the first paragraph, but not the second. They should eliminate all grade crossings as part of the project, with the national, state, and local government’s help.