COLT Overpass Listed As Funding Priority

By Kat Hughes, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.

Oct. 28–When officials from the city of Columbia and Boone County met Thursday to put together their wish list for federal funds, improving the COLT railroad crossing at Highway 63 was on the top of their list.

“Our recommendation was that soliciting funds for that project is our No. 1 priority,” City Manager Bill Watkins said.

Watkins said the city and county have requested about $5.5 million in funding for the railroad intersection the past few years, but Congress hasn’t appropriated any funds.

Since a fatal wreck that occurred Oct. 11 when a vehicle rear-ended a gasoline tanker truck that had stopped at the tracks, city and county officials said they are eager to move forward on a solution.

“It’s been an issue for a number of years,” Boone County Presiding Commissioner Ken Pearson said. “It’s a large safety issue.”

The city-owned railroad crosses Highway 63 at street level, just west of Route B. The crossing sometimes results in a hazard, as trucks carrying hazardous materials and school buses are required by state law to stop at all railroad crossings. The speed limit on Highway 63 is 70 mph.

Highway traffic has collided with trucks stopped at the tracks. In 1997, a man died after driving his pickup into the back of a school bus.

Although several options have been suggested, including adding a lane designated for trucks and buses that must stop, Watkins said the best long-term solution would be to build an elevated rail that COLT trains could use to cross over the four-lane highway.

“We have looked at adding lanes, and it’s just not feasible because you’d have to spend a lot of money, and it wouldn’t solve all of the problems,” Watkins said.

Pearson said another problem with the crossing is that motorists sometimes lose control when they cross the embedded tracks at 70 mph.

In April, the city paid Kansas City-based engineering consultant TranSystems $60,000 to examine the feasibility of a railroad overpass as well as what it would cost.

TranSystems estimated the structure would cost about $4.7 million. Watkins said the city and county previously asked the federal government for $5.5 million.

Although TranSystems already released its study, it will present its findings to officials of the Missouri Department of Transportation and the city on Nov. 7.

In the meantime, Watkins said he plans to ask the Columbia City Council to move forward with designing the railroad structure, which he estimates will cost about $500,000.

“We don’t want to lose any time,” Watkins said. “My intent is to continue to push for state and federal participation, but we want to be ready to build as soon as we get any funding.”

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