Railroad overpass part of joint Bettendorf-Riverdale study

Following a breakfast meeting last year with a railroad vice president, Riverdale Mayor Anthony Heddlesten’s mind began steaming toward a solution to a perplexing problem. After all, his day job involves fixing issues for communities as the chief of the civil and environmental engineering department for the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps […]

Following a breakfast meeting last year with a railroad vice president, Riverdale Mayor Anthony Heddlesten’s mind began steaming toward a solution to a perplexing problem. After all, his day job involves fixing issues for communities as the chief of the civil and environmental engineering department for the Rock Island District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The challenge for Mr. Heddlesten’s tiny town is the same reality now facing every community along the Mississippi River in the Iowa Quad Cities after the approval Wednesday, March 15, by federal regulators of the merger of major railroads Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS). The $31.6 billion deal – which creates the first single railway running from Canada to Mexico through America’s heartland – is expected to triple train traffic to nearly one per hour in the new route’s most-affected area in the Iowa Quad Cities. The average train also is projected to double to more than two miles long by 2027. “The Arconic (aluminum manufacturing) plant is a mile long, so this could be a big problem getting people and products in and out,” Mr. Heddlesten said, pointing to his town’s major tenant and one of the Quad Cities region’s largest employers. His answer: Why not build an overpass to avoid any vehicle traffic troubles with the trains? However, that simple solution comes with its own set of questions including where to build the overpass and who foots the bill for an estimated $10 million project.

“Anthony’s more optimistic than am I relative to whether or not we could secure the grants and federal funding to get the project built,” said Bob Gallagher, the mayor of neighboring Bettendorf. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try as hard as we possibly can.”’ To consider the feasibility of the project, Bettendorf and Riverdale are teaming up together for a joint study of the railroad crossings in its shared industrial areas along State Street/U.S. Highway 67. At its Tuesday, March 21, meeting, the Bettendorf City Council approved paying its half of the professional services agreement from Community Improvement Program (CIP) funds to hire Midwestern engineering firm Snyder & Associates to conduct the study. Snyder’s statewide railroad experience includes previously working with Bettendorf and Davenport on train mitigation measures. The firm will look at rail crossings stretching from Kensington Street at the southern Riverdale border -- north past Arconic and other businesses along State Street/U.S. 67 – to the Bettendorf Industrial Park entrances/exits at 62nd Street and Shoreline Drive back in Bettendorf’s boundaries. “This is all still kind of Anthony’s big, crazy idea,” Mr. Heddlesten said of his overpass idea. “It’s one thing to doodle it out on a piece of paper, but it’s another thing to start the engineering drawings for this kind of a project. Is it even feasible? This study will find out.”

Where to build an overpass?

Bettendorf’s city staff is suggesting Fenno Road for the possible train overpass. The street serves both Bettendorf and Riverdale with Schebler Heating & Air marking the southwest corner of the busy intersection of Fenno and State Street (U.S. 67).

Mr. Heddlesten also points to the southern stretches of Valley Drive – the next entrance/exit south on State Street/US 67, and thus closer to Arconic, Magellan Midstream Partners and MidAmerican Energy’s Riverside Generating Station. “If it is a bridge, and it does start in one town and end in another, there’s some unique challenges that we have to work out,” he added.  For either site to work for the Bettendorf Industrial Park businesses, extending 62nd Street Court across Crow Creek to connect with Fenno Road would be necessary. An access road from Valley Drive – or further north, Fenno Road – also would have to stretch to Arconic’s property. “Arconic has not agreed to pay for the study, but if something were to come from it, there would be a negotiation relative to how to pay for an overpass,” Mr. Gallagher said. Both Fenno Road and Valley Drive offer enough room to build an overpass over the train tracks, Mr. Heddlesten said. However, he notes Kensington and South Bellingham streets – the latter the entrance/exit to Arconic’s shipping and receiving – “is too tight,” he added. “There is not enough distance between the train tracks and (U.S.) 67 to put a bridge (overpass). “On one, you’d have to tear down like eight to 10 houses, too, and we certainly don’t want to do that. The goal here is to find something that doesn’t impact anybody in a negative way. We don’t want to run anybody out of town.” The joint study also will look at the feasibility of closing some crossings or creating “Quiet Zones” – measures used to reduce train noise and improve safety. However, for the four railroad crossings privately owned by either Arconic or MidAmerican Energy, those companies will determine whether to follow the study’s recommendations. An Arconic spokesman did not return phone calls from the QCBJ seeking comment. “Does Arconic really need all those different crossings?” Mr. Heddlesten said. “We had that discussion with them. And they said ‘we would be open to getting rid of some intersections if we had a bridge (overpass) because then that would alleviate so many access and safety concerns for us.” Meanwhile, Mr. Heddlesten said Mid-American is considering tearing down the Riverside Generating Station in the near future, which could reduce the workforce at that site from 500 to 30 employees. “It was a coal power plant and they switched to natural gas – and now they’ve gone to so much wind and solar, I think that they’re eliminating it all together in the next couple of years,” Mr. Heddlesten added. “So with the traffic decrease, they wouldn’t need extra intersections.” When making any decisions – which could include the recommendation of closing crossings – Mr. Heddlesten said Riverdale hopes Arconic is mindful of the Quiet Zone wishes of its residential neighbors to the south and west in Havens Acres. Neither overpass plans to continue over U.S. 67, but Mr. Heddlesten said there are still significant highway safety improvements to be realized from the project.

What other benefits?

When Mr. Heddlesten began talking about an overpass in Riverdale business circles, officials at Schebler sent him a 2013 traffic study that considered adding a stoplight at the intersection of Fenno and State Street/U.S. 67. “If you’ve ever been down there, it’s a shift-change challenge for them and the other workers in that area,” said Mr. Heddlesten, who was elected Riverdale’s mayor in 2021 after serving four years as a council member. “It’s pretty hectic getting out of the Schebler parking lot and getting on to (U.S.) 67.” Unfortunately, the study fell painfully shy of enough traffic to add a signal a decade ago. “But now think about the amount of growth that’s happened in that area since 2013, and the amount of new traffic that comes down that corridor,” Mr. Heddlesten said. “Look at all of those new homes and businesses off Valley Drive. And yet, the only place besides the mouth of Valley (Drive) to get out on to (U.S.) 67 (from the north) is still at the BP (gas station), the post office down there and at Fenno. “I shouldn’t just be assuming since I’m an engineer and I know better, but I can’t imagine how adding a light along with a train overpass wouldn’t be a great addition.” Improved access over the train tracks – along with improved highway safety – also could spur more growth in the region, Mr. Heddlesten said. For instance, “When we sat down with Schebler,” he added, “you could see the light bulbs turn on and they had some ideas on how they could maybe do some expansion of their facility. They would be able to get trucks out easier and things like that.” Mr. Gallagher said the Bettendorf Industrial Park can use some relief, too, with those businesses experiencing blockages in the past when trains stopped on the tracks to completely cut off access. “Businesses that employ folks between the tracks and the river have employees who have to park on (U.S.) 67 or the shoulder and try to go under or through these trains that are stopped on the tracks,” the Bettendorf mayor said. “With an increase of trains, we assume that there will be more of that type of activity, which is clearly not safe, so if there’s a way that we can work with the business community to pull something off, we’re open to attempting to lend our name and our support. “We certainly don’t have council approval or favor to spend any money on that overpass. A 23rd Street overpass (in downtown Bettendorf) has always been contemplated if we had a development on the Goldstein (property) that surrounds the (Isle of Capri) hotel. But we will have to see if that ever develops.” 

Who pays for it?

Mr. Gallagher said Bettendorf annually spends about $10 million on road repair and other street projects. “This year has doubled because of the Forest Grove and Middle Road (expansion) project where federal money is coming in,” he added. “But when we spend about $10 million of our own money each year, spending $10 million in one year on an overpass really isn’t feasible. “We did agree to help fund the study because we need to figure out if it can be done – but if it can be done, then we’ll look forward to funding sources other than the city.” Ditto for Riverdale.  “It makes a lot of sense,” Mr. Heddlesten said. “But when you talk about a town of 400 people trying to build a $10 million bridge? It sounds a little crazy from that standpoint, which is why we are working with all these regional partners and neighbors trying to figure out the best solutions for everybody.” Mr. Gallagher said federal and state grants will be needed if the project receives a greenlight, which Mr. Heddlesten thinks could come as early as June or July. “There is some money in the railway portion of the Federal Highway Transportation bill for this specific type of overpass. But I don’t yet know if we would qualify,” Mr. Gallagher said. “CP has some foundation money, but it would be in a small amount. I would assume around hundreds of thousands but not near $1 million or something like that if we were to get a real good grant from them. “CP would like to reduce the number of crossings if at all possible and we might be able to do that, especially with an overpass. And elimination of a crossing could lead to some more money from the CP Foundation, it’s been suggested. Which would make sense, right? They get something they want, and they would pay a little bit more to make that happen.” Bettendorf is due a $3 million settlement from CP this summer in exchange for not contesting the merger. However, those funds are planned to establish “Quiet Zones” in downtown Bettendorf. Davenport ($10 million), Muscatine ($3 million) and LeClaire ($750,000) also accepted settlement offers from CP last year. However, the railroad remains in negotiations with Riverdale among other cities in Iowa. After listening to the CP vice president at their breakfast meeting about available mitigation monies from the railway for safety improvements -- as well as learning about federal and state grants possible from the Iowa Department of Transportation and state and federal lawmakers – Mr. Heddlesten believes finding funding is possible. “We check an awful lot of boxes by improving highway safety, improving rail safety, and by connecting it to industry,” he said, ticking off funding sources such as the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program. “When it all comes down to it, if we can improve safety and access to one of our region’s biggest employers – not to mention a bunch of other businesses and residents – that’s a pretty big deal for the region, not just for Riverdale or Bettendorf,” Mr. Heddlesten said.