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Plans for new bridges carrying Walnut Street and Oak Street over railroad tracks are on hold while Union Pacific and Missouri and Northern Arkansas railroad companies review the plans.
Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, said engineers were reviewing the county and city proposals to make sure they are tall enough to accommodate taller railroad loads, including double-stacked shipping containers.
He said they also want to make sure any new bridges built are long enough to allow the railroad to expand the tracks through Carthage if necessary. Davis said there are no current plans to add new track to the existing roadbed, but the railroad wants to make sure any new bridges are long enough to span their entire right of way in the area.
“We need to protect the right of way for future growth,” Davis said. “In the last 10 years, we’ve run into situations with communities where we haven’t followed our own guidelines, then traffic increased and we had to build track. It’s hard when you have to go to a community and tell them we have to punch a hole in their new bridge for the new track.”
Eastern District Jasper County Commissioner Jim Honey announced at Tuesday’s county commission meeting that the Walnut Street bridge, which is being built with state money funneled through the county, is on hold indefinitely because the current designs do not meet the railroad’s requirements.
“They have 80 feet of right of way and they want 80 feet of clearance,” Honey said. “Right now there is only 47 feet of clearance. They want to accommodate future construction and be able to maintain their right of way.”
Honey said building a bridge that would span all 80 feet would require run-ups that would go from Orner to Fall streets and create walls of concrete and storm water drainage problems for homes next to the road.
The county is running into problems similar to what the city has faced for the past four years regarding replacing the Oak Street bridge.
The city obtained a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation to replace the Oak Street bridge more than four years ago, but all bridges that span railroads are subject to review by the railroad.
The city has said in the past the railroad’s requirements would add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of replacing the Oak Street bridge, far outstripping MoDOT’s grant money.
Plans for new bridges carrying Walnut Street and Oak Street over railroad tracks are on hold while Union Pacific and Missouri and Northern Arkansas railroad companies review the plans.
Mark Davis, spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, said engineers were reviewing the county and city proposals to make sure they are tall enough to accommodate taller railroad loads, including double-stacked shipping containers.
He said they also want to make sure any new bridges built are long enough to allow the railroad to expand the tracks through Carthage if necessary. Davis said there are no current plans to add new track to the existing roadbed, but the railroad wants to make sure any new bridges are long enough to span their entire right of way in the area.
“We need to protect the right of way for future growth,” Davis said. “In the last 10 years, we’ve run into situations with communities where we haven’t followed our own guidelines, then traffic increased and we had to build track. It’s hard when you have to go to a community and tell them we have to punch a hole in their new bridge for the new track.”
Eastern District Jasper County Commissioner Jim Honey announced at Tuesday’s county commission meeting that the Walnut Street bridge, which is being built with state money funneled through the county, is on hold indefinitely because the current designs do not meet the railroad’s requirements.
“They have 80 feet of right of way and they want 80 feet of clearance,” Honey said. “Right now there is only 47 feet of clearance. They want to accommodate future construction and be able to maintain their right of way.”
Honey said building a bridge that would span all 80 feet would require run-ups that would go from Orner to Fall streets and create walls of concrete and storm water drainage problems for homes next to the road.
The county is running into problems similar to what the city has faced for the past four years regarding replacing the Oak Street bridge.
The city obtained a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation to replace the Oak Street bridge more than four years ago, but all bridges that span railroads are subject to review by the railroad.
The city has said in the past the railroad’s requirements would add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of replacing the Oak Street bridge, far outstripping MoDOT’s grant money.
