City council hears railroad proposal

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — A Centralia resident is working to gain endorsements for a proposal he claims will alleviate traffic and safety concerns due to the railroad crossings in his city and Mt. Vernon.

Jim Adams, a retired draftsman for area car shops, presented his proposals to the Mt. Vernon City Council during a workshop session last week. Adams’ plan for Centralia has received resolutions of support from Central City, Centralia and Wamac.

“I’ve been working on this since 1986,” Adams said. “Studying plans made over the last 20 or more years shows that the simplest way to solve the problems in Centralia would be to solve the problems in Mt. Vernon.”

According to Adams plan, miles of new rail would need to be laid as well as an overpass and an underpass constructed. Adams said the funding for his plan is “the big problem.”

“That’s why this has to be submitted to the Illinois Commerce Commission,” Adams said. “(The Illinois Department of Transportation) needs to be involved and the railroads pay for it too.”

Adams has proposed rerouting the Evansville Western rail line that crosses the city from northwest to southeast and relocating the line that would provide a new route for the Norfolk and Southern.

“Assume an east-bound Norfolk Southern train is in Centralia on the Burlington Northern tracks,” Adams explained. “Instead of going toward Walnut Hill on the present Norfolk Southern tracks, the train would stay on the Burlington Northern until it gets to Woodlawn. At Woodlawn, there are two options. One would be to construct a new interchange track for through traffic via which the Norfolk Southern would go east on the Evansville Western track. At a point about one and one quarter miles west of Interstate 57, about four-and-a-half miles of new track would go south to join the existing Union Pacific track from Tamaroa. The second option would be for the Norfolk Southern and the Evansville Western to both run south on the Burlington Northern track to a point west of the existing Union Pacific underpass at I-57 and then turn east to join the Union Pacific at that underpass. This plan would require a new connection from the Evansville Western to the Burlington Northern track and approximately five miles of new track.

“From this point, all three railroads would use the existing I-57 underpass and Union Pacific track to a point southeast of Mt. Vernon where the north/south Union Pacific tracks are located,” Adams continued. “About one-fourth of a mile north of this junction is the Illinois Route 142 crossing. Just beyond this crossing, the Evansville Western would curve east to connect with (its) existing track. Next, the Norfolk Southern would curve off to the east to meet (its) existing track. A new four lane overpass would be built over the Union Pacific tracks with these tracks being undercut to a new lower position to reduce the height of the overpass. The amount of the undercut being governed by the potential high water mark of Casey Creek.

“This plan would remove the present Norfolk Southern track from the power switch in the Burlington Northern tracks near 13th Street in Centralia to the new connection near Casey Creek in the east part of Mt. Vernon. In Mt. Vernon, the existing Evansville Western tracks that angle across town would be removed from a point east of I-57/64 to the new Evansville Western junction in the southeast part of town. This, with the proposed overpass, would eliminate all the railroad crossings by streets that carry state highway traffic within the city limits.”

Adams said beside the benefits of reducing the railroad track that “slices” across Mt. Vernon, the Norfolk Southern tracks that cross Main and Broadway on the east of town will be eliminated and a new four lane overpass on Main and Broadway will carry vehicle traffic over the Union Pacific tracks.

“In Mt. Vernon, the simplicity of this plan will require less construction than previous plans and therefore will reduce the cost,” Adams claims.

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