Long-awaited repairs to some areas of at least one local rail line are expected to begin soon, David Meuser, Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokesperson, said.
“The paperwork has been completed for the line from Oklahoma City to Shawnee and we expect work to begin sometime this month,” he said. “We’re still working on the agreements with Burlington Northern Santa Fe for work on the line north from Shawnee for the industrial spur. But we do expect them to use BNSF crews on that project.”
The work was made possible by $8 million in stimulus funds that Gov. Brad Henry helped secure for the riverbank stabilization and other needs along the rails. Henry made the decision to provide those federal dollars for the projects after the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected an application for a $32 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery discretionary grant to make improvements along the lines.
Because the stimulus funds will provide only about 25 percent of the total needed for improvements, the key areas in need of immediate repair were identified by rail owners BNSF and Union Pacific and by rail operator A-OK Railroad. It was decided that sections of the BNSF line from Shawnee north to the industrial park would be rebuilt with the money and that the bank of the North Canadian, along the Union Pacific line from Shawnee to Oklahoma City, would also be built up in some crucial areas.
Tim Burg, Shawnee Economic Development Foundation executive director, said he spoke with BNSF personnel recently, who “gave the thumbs up” on the project and told him the “scope of work” had been identified for that line.
“I am anxious, as are other companies, about what those improvements will mean for the transportation infrastructure,” Burg said. “It is vital and important to the community and to what we do over here at SEDF.”
Railroad lines are important enough to the local manufacturers — and therefore, the local economy — that another study for a different section of rail line also has been planned.
Pat McCormick, Central Oklahoma Economic Development District economic development planner, said Arnulf Hagen — on behalf of the Oklahoma Transportation Center — has been working with COEDD regarding a study of the rail line between Shawnee and McAlester.
The two entities plan to use students from the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and Langston University to conduct interviews and complete a survey regarding that rail line.
McCormick said the transportation center and COEDD are “finishing up the formalities” of that study project and “plan to have an agreement signed by October.”
The students will conduct the interviews to obtain several pieces of information about the line’s importance, she said. Those include the costs to rehabilitate the 93 miles of Union Pacific line between the two cities; who uses the line or would use it if improvements were made; potential income that could be generated from use of the line; and the timeline expected to complete projects that would need to be done.
“We would like to make it a viable rail line like it once was,” McCormick said. “Railroads are a critical component of Shawnee’s economic base and to have it opened up would be good for the economy of the entire region.”
In addition to creating a “cost-effective form of transportation” for the area, McCormick said the line also assists in retaining and attracting industries to the area.
“Our industries in the area welcome any improvements we can make to the lines,” she said.
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Long-awaited repairs to some areas of at least one local rail line are expected to begin soon, David Meuser, Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokesperson, said.
“The paperwork has been completed for the line from Oklahoma City to Shawnee and we expect work to begin sometime this month,” he said. “We’re still working on the agreements with Burlington Northern Santa Fe for work on the line north from Shawnee for the industrial spur. But we do expect them to use BNSF crews on that project.”
The work was made possible by $8 million in stimulus funds that Gov. Brad Henry helped secure for the riverbank stabilization and other needs along the rails. Henry made the decision to provide those federal dollars for the projects after the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected an application for a $32 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery discretionary grant to make improvements along the lines.
Because the stimulus funds will provide only about 25 percent of the total needed for improvements, the key areas in need of immediate repair were identified by rail owners BNSF and Union Pacific and by rail operator A-OK Railroad. It was decided that sections of the BNSF line from Shawnee north to the industrial park would be rebuilt with the money and that the bank of the North Canadian, along the Union Pacific line from Shawnee to Oklahoma City, would also be built up in some crucial areas.
Tim Burg, Shawnee Economic Development Foundation executive director, said he spoke with BNSF personnel recently, who “gave the thumbs up” on the project and told him the “scope of work” had been identified for that line.
“I am anxious, as are other companies, about what those improvements will mean for the transportation infrastructure,” Burg said. “It is vital and important to the community and to what we do over here at SEDF.”
Railroad lines are important enough to the local manufacturers — and therefore, the local economy — that another study for a different section of rail line also has been planned.
Pat McCormick, Central Oklahoma Economic Development District economic development planner, said Arnulf Hagen — on behalf of the Oklahoma Transportation Center — has been working with COEDD regarding a study of the rail line between Shawnee and McAlester.
The two entities plan to use students from the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and Langston University to conduct interviews and complete a survey regarding that rail line.
McCormick said the transportation center and COEDD are “finishing up the formalities” of that study project and “plan to have an agreement signed by October.”
The students will conduct the interviews to obtain several pieces of information about the line’s importance, she said. Those include the costs to rehabilitate the 93 miles of Union Pacific line between the two cities; who uses the line or would use it if improvements were made; potential income that could be generated from use of the line; and the timeline expected to complete projects that would need to be done.
“We would like to make it a viable rail line like it once was,” McCormick said. “Railroads are a critical component of Shawnee’s economic base and to have it opened up would be good for the economy of the entire region.”
In addition to creating a “cost-effective form of transportation” for the area, McCormick said the line also assists in retaining and attracting industries to the area.
“Our industries in the area welcome any improvements we can make to the lines,” she said.
