MoDOT submits recommendations for Union Pacific/BNSF track swap

The Missouri Department of Transportation released its recommendations for improvements Thursday on an alternative route to the Union Pacific Railroad track swap with Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

In a letter to the federal Surface Transportation Board, the agency reviewing the proposal, MoDOT recommended $8.5 million in safety improvements for the alternative route. Recommendations include overpasses on Highway 77 north of Chaffee and Route M west of Scott City and Kelso.

UP has requested permission to acquire BNSF track that runs through Scott County from Rockview to Sikeston. If approved, the swap would increase traffic along the route by 10 or 11 trains per day in some places, more in others.

The proposal has alarmed many municipal and county leaders in Scott County, most notably in Sikeston and on the Scott County Commission.

Earlier this year MoDOT released its recommendations for safety improvements on the Rockview to Sikeston route -- more than $24 million including an overpass on U.S. 60. MoDOT agreed to share some of those costs.

Local leaders feel UP should double-track its existing line between Rockview and Dexter instead of acquiring the route to Sikeston. But UP says the cost of double tracking would be more expensive than acquiring the BNSF track.