Are the Railroads blowing smoke?

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So I got this email forwarded to me by a city councilor yesterday, I’m not sure who sent them this (SF public works or BNSF) but I found it a bit humorous, to say the least;

We evaluated the potential changes to railroad operations as part of the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the project.  There is a BNSF Sioux Falls Operations Plan that is in the appendix of the EA.  It was anticipated that an extra 2 to 5 rail cars per month would need to utilize this area for parking and storage due to the track removal in the downtown yard.

If there is additional train traffic above this estimated amount, it is likely due to a higher customer demand, not because of the Rail Yard Redevelopment project.  For instance, Egger Steel is one of the businesses served by the track in this neighborhood and may be receiving or shipping additional steel due to market needs.

It’s no secret, Former Mayor Bucktooh & Bowlcut used to tell some pretty tall tales, but, after reading this, it is no surprise to me that the two (BNSF) negotiated the worst agreement in the history of our city.

First off, I don’t think I have ever thought the RR Redevelopment project has been causing the extra cars to be parked in the area, my point is that we should have negotiated that NO cars can be parked in the area. We gave BNSF millions to build a new switchyard out of downtown, why don’t they use it?

As for the 2 to 5 cars, LMFAO! If you go by the Nelson Park skate park or just North of Avera you will see between 40-60 cars parked in those area’s over the weekend and throughout the week. Are some of them steel cars? A few, I guess, but most are grain, lumber and biofuel cars.

I fully understand that we will still have to have rail traffic through downtown due to the suppliers, but I question why we need to park and switch these cars in this area? Seems the Railroads are blowing a lot of smoke.

Doon, IA train derailment cause not determined yet

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I think we have some pretty good guesses though;

“The cause of the accident hasn’t been determined yet. It’s easy to assume that it was flood-related and that may be very well what caused it, but we’re not going to make an assumption at this point,” Williams said.

I find it interesting that the FEDS haven’t said the cause yet. Where are our investigative reporters when you need them? The stories coming from Doon shortly after the derailment was that the train decided to cross the tracks that were covered with water. Why?

I would think that protocol would say NOT to do such a thing, or at least send a test vehicle across the water covered tracks first to look for damage. With the massive cleanup effort I suspect that BNSF knows exactly what happened and are trying to ‘cleanup’ or at least ‘coverup’ the mistake. The public deserves an answer ASAP, but will we ever hear it?

We should have negotiated RR quiet zones Downtown

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Rapid City is showing they have a lot more vision than Sioux Falls by proposing quiet zones Downtown;

The city’s railroad quiet zone task force will meet next week to discuss funding for the project. A final report is expected within the next two months.

City officials will need to file a notice of intent with the Federal Railroad Administration and railroad companies once a quiet zone option is approved.

Harrington said Rapid City would be the first town or city in the state to implement a railroad quiet zone policy should it move forward.

As I have stated numerous times, the RR Redevelopment Project in DTSF was one of the worst negotiated projects in the history of the city. Besides the fact that we probably bought land from the RR that we probably already owned (Federal easements) we did nothing to limit train traffic DT or at least limit the noise. Of the millions we handed over to the RR for basically $62 a square foot dirty land, we didn’t have the vision to set aside some money to create quiet zones downtown. This SHOULD have been a part of the deal.

DECIBAL PROBLEM STILL OCCURRING DOWNTOWN

I was surprised to see the problems are still around;

Neitzert said he may wait to see if the ICON has any issues throughout the summer and in the meantime, slow the tempo on composing a new ordinance, but still thinks downtown maybe eventually need to change its key.

“It does seem like downtown needs something different, because the noise ordinance is written really well for other areas that aren’t mixed use, neighborhoods that are all residential,” Neitzert said. “But again the question is, what is the something?”

Ironically its airplanes, trains and first responders that cause the most noise, the decibel level does need to change downtown, funny how this stuff gets killed without little explanation. Kind of like moving public input without an informal public meeting about it. I had the opportunity to go inside one of the bigger condos in the building. While this one did not have a west side patio, it did have several west side windows. I was there for about an hour and the only sound I could hear from outside was a faint police car siren that was driving past the coliseum, but it was so faint you would not even notice it. I’m thinking having the patios on the west side are what may be causing some of the noise issues. My suggestion? Close you patio door.

Train Tankers Continue to be stored in DTSF

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I counted 14 tankers today labeled as ‘Bio Engery’ (probably ethanol) parked only 100 feet from a kid’s skateboard park and a couple hundred feet from the river and a busy street. I did tap on one and it seemed empty.

The label ‘1987 – 3’ means flammable alcohol.

This label by Chemtrec appeared on several of the tankers, according to their website;

Established in 1971 as a public service of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), CHEMTREC is an around-the-clock service available to fire fighters, law enforcement officials and other emergency responders who need immediate critical response information for emergency incidents involving chemicals, hazardous materials and dangerous goods. CHEMTREC’s highly trained personnel receive hundreds of calls every day and provide assistance during incidents that range from minor to critical.

I’ll end with some graffiti I found on one of the tankers. I think it says it all.

Who is regulating the ‘Train Takeover’ of Sioux Falls?

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A Foot Soldier sent me several pictures today, saying this; “100 + tankers parked on the tracks parallel to Minnesota avenue out to the airport. They stretch from behind water treatment plant all the way North of Benson Road. Been there since Friday.”

Last week I think on Tuesday or Wednesday (hard to keep track anymore) the trains were rolling through downtown and blowing whistles for at least 10-12 hours straight. Not only does this block traffic, the decibel levels are out of control (over 110 decibels).

I’m still wondering why the trains are not switching and storing cars at their new switch yard? What kind of deal did Former Mayor Bogus Events Center Settlement cut with the railroads? Apparently a very crappy one.

I think it is time to put pressure on our Washington delegation to put the hammer down. Oh wait, I forgot who I was talking about. Nevermind.

Oh, BTW, 9:10 PM on a Sunday Night, guess what I’m listening to right now? A train whistle.