Hate waiting for trains in central Fresno? Good news. But underpasses come at a cost
A century-old dream died a silent death last week in California’s fifth-largest city. The cause: bureaucratic asphyxiation.
Few paid attention to its passing, and no services were held. The remains will be now diverted to another project. One that’s worthy of undertaking but far short of what was originally hoped.
RIP, rail consolidation in Fresno. It was nice knowing you, or at least thinking you were a possibility.
Rail consolidation merited only scant mention in an April 22 media release issued by the Fresno County Transportation Authority.
The headline news — and for good reason — was the $6 million in Measure C funding awarded to the city of Fresno to begin design and environmental studies for two railroad grade separations at Blackstone and McKinley avenues, just east of Fresno City College.
“If there was any way to make (rail consolidation) happen, that would’ve been great,” said Mike Leonardo, the authority’s executive director. “But this is better than doing nothing, which is where we were headed.”
Those underpasses are sorely needed and a good use of our county transportation tax dollars. Every day hundreds of students, faculty and residents are delayed by freight and passenger trains crossing at street level, not to mention the negative impacts on traffic and air quality.
Public safety will be enhanced as well. Five people have been killed on those tracks over the past 10 years, according to the authority.
Estimated to cost between $70 million and $80 million, construction is scheduled to begin in 2022 and completed in winter 2025, barring weather delays. Officials do not have all the money in hand, but are confident they will be able to secure the necessary state and federal grants once the project is “shovel ready.”
What the announcement doesn’t say, at least not explicitly, is that there would be no need for two new underpasses at Blackstone and McKinley had the BNSF Railroad been relocated to the Union Pacific Railroad alignment as it passes through Fresno.
That was the aim of rail consolidation, a concept that was first incorporated into Fresno’s master plan way, way back in 1918.
Now, 102 years later, the final nail has been driven into that coffin.
Let us take a moment to commemorate all the efforts, grass-rooted and political, that ultimately went nowhere. Failed legislation in the state Assembly, citizen groups (movethetracks.org), detailed studies of freight train realignment.
And who can forget the City Council member who, rather colorfully, called the BNSF tracks “a dagger running through the heart of our city” and campaigned on a pledge to have rail consolidation underway by the end of his term?
Whoops.
Rail consolidation funds redirected
We’ve known for years that rail consolidation was probably too expensive. It was projected to cost between $468 million and $543 million in today’s dollars, according to a study by the authority.
Still, that didn’t stop us from trying. Included in the Measure C extension approved by voters in 2006 was something called the Alternative Transportation Program, which essentially served as a piggy bank for rail consolidation.
All these years later, ATP is projected to generate about $84 million through the life of the measure. Most of that money has yet to be touched.
Another complication is high-speed rail, which selected an alignment through Fresno just east of the existing Union Pacific tracks. This development precluded Union Pacific’s ability to expand its right of way, which would’ve been necessary to accommodate additional trains brought on by consolidation with BNSF.
Back in 2006, it was recognized rail consolidation may never happen. So a 15-year provision was included in the ATP redirecting those funds to grade-separation projects that “provide the greatest amount of congestion relief and air quality benefit.”
Which two new underpasses at Blackstone and McKinley most certainly would. No argument here.
Nearly $60M available
Earlier, I indicated the ATP fund is expected to generate $84 million. According to an authority staff report, $25 million has been set aside for a bullet train maintenance facility should the High Speed Rail board choose Fresno as its preferred site. (The fate of both remains uncertain.)
Subtract $25 million from $84 million, and that leaves $59 million available for the underpass project — more than enough to get things moving.
Two new underpasses at Blackstone and McKinley will increase mobility in central Fresno while decreasing traffic and air pollution. Those are wins for the city and its citizens.
Still, they feel like a consolation prize compared to a linear park running between northwest Fresno and downtown with a commuter bike trail down its spine, plus relief for other streets and neighborhoods impacted each day by passing trains.
Rail consolidation would’ve made Fresno a much more livable city. While the new underpasses are certainly welcome, they also bring down the curtains on a century-old dream.
