Title
Consider authorizing letter to SCDOT in support of closing existing railroad crossings at Community and Mill Streets upon completion of a new, safer crossing at Quantz Street.
Body
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and Norfolk Southern Railroad have identified the existing railroad crossings at Community and Mill Streets as unsafe and have recommended their closure. Both Community Street and Mill Street are state-owned roadways. It is the policy of SCDOT to seek the consent of local governments prior to closing railroad crossings. SCDOT has made this request on several occasions over the past 12 years. Norfolk Southern’s preference is that the two crossings be closed and that no new crossing be provided.
The impact of closing these two crossings has been studied extensively. From a traffic standpoint, the closing of these crossings has minimal impact on surrounding streets and intersections. The most significant impact is on the adjacent neighborhoods and the convenience of travel for residents and businesses. With no rail crossings in this area, travel times to Dave Lyle Boulevard, I-77 and other important community destinations would increase significantly for neighborhood residents. Businesses located in the former Aragon Mill would be cut off from easy access to Dave Lyle Boulevard; truck traffic would have to be rerouted through residential streets. Access to neighborhood churches and schools would be more difficult. Essentially the neighborhood would be divided in two, north and south, without easy connections.
Due to the impacts on neighborhood residents and businesses, a replacement crossing is strongly recommended. In 2002-2003, York County officials met with neighborhood residents to discuss a replacement crossing at Quantz Street. In late 2003, York County voters approved a capital projects sale tax referendum, known locally as “Pennies for Progress,” that provided funding for closure of the Community and Mill Street crossings as well as for construction of a replacement crossing at Quantz Street. Funding for this project is available from Pennies for Progress at this time. York County has agreed to allow the City to manage this project. It is crucial that the City make decisions needed to implement this project.
In April and May 2009, City staff met with neighborhood residents and businesses to discuss this project. In June 2009 a presentation was made to City Council. At these meetings many neighborhood residents and businesses expressed reservations about proposed changes to the existing crossings.
Part of the concern expressed by residents and businesses relates not to the proposed safety improvements, but to a second proposed project designed to relieve traffic congestion at rail crossings serving the downtown and Textile Corridor. This project would relieve blocked crossings by extending sidetracks in the same areas to be affected by the proposed safety improvements. This is a much more complicated project that, if implemented, would require legal and financial agreements between the City and Norfolk Southern. This project is still at an early stage of discussion and it will likely be the middle of 2010 before preliminary designs and cost information can be presented to City Council and the community.
In the meantime, the City should take necessary steps to consent to SCDOT’s proposed closure of the Community and Mill Street crossings, subject to the opening of a replacement crossing at Quantz Street. Other options have been considered for the location of a replacement crossing. The chief problem with these options is high cost and the lack of a funding source. The Pennies for Progress Program can only fund a new crossing at Quantz Street, as approved under the 2003 Pennies for Progress referendum.
Staff recommends that City Council authorize the City Manager to send a letter to SCDOT providing the City’s consent to closing the existing rail crossings at Community and Mill Streets once a replacement crossing is constructed. In addition, staff recommends that City Council authorize staff to begin design of the Quantz Street crossing under the Pennies for Progress program.