RSS Feed |
|
|
|||||
|
Meeting addresses rail issues There has been enough interest expressed in a meeting between the City of El Campo and Kansas City Southern Railroad that Wharton County Commissioners have posted a special meeting allowing them to attend the information session. County Judge John Murrile's office posted the meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday in the city council chambers, based on indications the judge and at least three members of the court planned to attend. That would represent a quorum and under Texas law their attendance had to be posted in advance. In a letter to the judge's office, Halff Associates representative Wes Birdwell said the city had requested a meeting with county officials, the Texas Department of Transportation and Kansas City Southern Railroad to discuss the route the rail will take by either passing through or around the city. Included in the concerns being expressed by the city are impact on traffic flows, Birdwell said in the letter. Kansas City Southern is refurbishing the old Tex-Mex rail route that extended from Rosenberg to Victoria, part of a rail connection that once extended from the Valley along the Texas coast to Houston and points beyond. Halff said the railroad has "almost completed rebuilding the old railroad line from Rosenberg to the Fort Bend/Wharton County line and is beginning construction in northern Wharton County." KC Southern has announced plans to begin operating the railroad as early as next year at a frequency of eight trains per day, increasing to as many as 20 trains per day in as soon as 10 years. Murrile said the information TxDOT will bring to the table will be the most interesting for him. "We've moved beyond general concerns to specific ones," the judge said. "El Campo would like to see the rail go around the town following U.S. 59, but they would need right of way to do that and indications from TxDOT is that money has been set aside for the right of way acquisition but not enough. "We also have concerns about the culverts and bridges they will be using. They will have to expand some of those while shrinking others." Birdwell said his firm got involved through the drainage study it is doing for Wharton County. |
for larger version       |
||||
