The Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad wants to add about 4.5 miles of new siding along its tracks in northwest Fresno, and that has neighbors, environmentalists and rail consolidation advocates alike up in arms.
The neighbors and the environmentalists don't like the idea of trains idling, perhaps for hours, on the new siding as they wait for higher-priority trains to pass. The noise and the concomitant air pollution are their biggest objections.
Consolidation advocates worry that investing $10 million in such new tracks will delay -- or even derail -- prospects for one day moving the BNSF trains to new tracks along the existing Union Pacific alignment, west of BNSF's current tracks and out of the city's heart.
On March 28, Fresno City Council Member Brian Calhoun, who represents the northwest part of town, will offer a resolution to his council colleagues opposing the idea. The issue is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tom Bailey,
president of Fresno Area Residents for Rail Consolidation Inc., is asking for help. E-mail him at tom@movethetracks.org for more information.
We hope that everyone understands that this isn’t just a simple case of a railroad spending their own money to improve their operation; it is our taxpayer dollars that will be spent to do this project, all $12.7 million of it.
The money to increase the siding will come from Caltrans' Division of Rail, which subsidizes the operation of Amtrak in California. They are permitted by law to make capital improvements to the rail lines over which Amtrak operates within the state in order to improve Amtrak’s on-time performance.
A most recent example of this type of spending of our taxpayer dollars is the 8 miles of double tracking done on the BNSF between Calwa to Bowles just south of Fresno. Other recent examples would be the improvements to the UP between Davis and Martinez to improve Amtrak's Capitol Corridor operation and also in the LoSan corridor for improvement for the Surfliners operating between L.A. and San Diego.
For the most part, this is money well spent. In the case of the Fig Garden siding, not so. Spend the money doing the same project a mere 5 miles north between Ave 7 and Ave 12 in rural Madera and everybody wins! Do it in Fresno and we have more freight trains sitting and idling right in the middle of 30,000 residents.
Unlike the Shaw and Marks overpasses that will serve a useful purpose when rail consolidation happens, this additional trackage will have to be removed thereby adding additional funds to the total cost.
Don’t let them get away with it. Join us at City Hall on March 28th at 4 p.m. and voice your opposition.
Tom Bailey
F.A.R.R.C.
After reading about the Fig Garden BNSF rail siding issue on Mindhub (www.mindhub.org to sign-up), I have to say that rural Madera County makes SO much more sense for this "needed" siding than the heart of Fresno.
When are we going become citizens en masse and stand up for ourselves and demand the quality of life we deserve? We've become a society of consumers that buys the best sound bite. Our quality of life would be improved by rail consolidation; including our air quality and traffic flow. If it doesn't support rail consolidation or better air, then I'm against it.
As an associate of Tom Bailey's in Fresno Area Residents for Rail Consolidation, I've been to many of the meetings held in Fresno on the BNSF siding issue.
One of the most peculiar aspects is that state funds are supposed to be directed at projects for the benefit of Amtrak service. Yet Amtrak has never been present at any of the meetings I've attended. The push seems to be coming entirely from BNSF. Where is Amtrak in this debate?
Another peculiar item is that this project was cooked up without the knowledge of our own Caltrans District. How do I know? When I first caught wind of the project I asked Caltrans about it. They knew nothing. It was news to them.
I find the lack of cooperation and openess with Fresno's aAgencies and citizens by BNSF and Caltrans' Mass Transit Division in Sacramento to be egregious.
Instead of spending all that money for the passing siding, it would probably buy the connection needed to join the BNSF and the Union Pacific. Why not make the move NOW?
I think the train idea is another example of Fresno putting the cart before the horse. Short-term thinking is what is ruining our air, lifestlye and health.