City to pay nearly $1.5 million to relocate railroad track

The city of Cape Girardeau will pay close to $1.5 million to relocate a section of railroad track so drainage improvements can be made along the Mississippi River floodwall.

The city council is scheduled to vote on a resolution Monday night that would approve an agreement with BNSF Railway Co. for the track relocation project.

About 600 feet of track must be moved west seven feet so the Army Corps of Engineers' contractor can replace a floodwall drain pipe, said Stan Polivick, Cape Girardeau assistant public works director.

To reconfigure the line, the railroad will have to put down new track, extending about 3,000 feet from just north of the Broadway floodgate to just south of the Isle Casino Cape Girardeau, Polivick said.

The federal government will pay for the floodwall pipe work. The city bought the needed land at a cost of $370,000, said city engineer Casey Brunke.

Under the agreement, the city will reimburse the railroad for the track work. Polivick said that work is slated to cost about $1 million. At that price, the entire cost to the city for land and track relocation would cost just under the $1.5 million figure budgeted by city staff.

City officials said parks and stormwater sales tax revenue will be used to pay for the project.

Polivick said the work is expected to begin in August, although the exact date hasn't been finalized.

The project will force the closing of the BNSF line to all rail traffic for the duration of the project. As a result, the work will done over 60 to 65 consecutive hours, Polivick said.

The railroad will remove the existing track. The Corps' contractor will replace the drain pipe. After that, the railroad crew will put in the new track, he explained.

"There will be a flurry of activity the whole time," he said.

In other action, the council will consider an ordinance to rezone 5.4 acres at 2930 Hawthorne Road and approve a preliminary plan for a proposed residential development.

The proposed development sparked opposition from neighbors who worried stormwater runoff could flood their backyards.

In January, the council agreed to delay action on the development request for at least 30 days after an attorney for four families on Sharon Drive asked for time to secure an independent engineering analysis of the flooding potential.

But city manager Scott Meyer said Friday that project opponents have not presented any new information to city staff.

Developer Gary Arnold has said his proposed Shadow Wood Villas development on the vacant land won't lead to flooding. Arnold wants to build four single-family homes and 16 duplex units, with each building set on a separate lot. The lots would be arranged around two cul-de-sacs.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.