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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-048-04/18/1995-BURLINGTON NORTHERN RAILROAD COLORADO DEPT TRANSPORTATION EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS FINAL DESIGN RA RESOLUTION 95-48 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS APPROVING THE FINAL DESIGN OF THE RAILROAD CONSOLIDATION PROJECT AND AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION BY EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS OF CERTAIN LAND NECESSARY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF SAID PROJECT WHEREAS, the City has been working with the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Railroads for many years in an effort to minimize the number of trains traveling through Fort Collins; and WHEREAS,the City has determined that the consolidation of certain railroad tracks in north Fort Collins will significantly reduce the number of trains traveling through Fort Collins; and WHEREAS, the final design of the Railroad Consolidation Project (the 'Project") is contained within the City of Fort Collins Downtown Railroad Track Consolidation Project Report (the 'Project Report"), which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference as Exhibit "A"; and WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the Project Report and wishes to formally approve the kinds of improvements to be constructed in connection with the Project as shown in said report; and WHEREAS, it is necessary for the City to acquire certain properties hereinafter described for the purpose of constructing railroad and utility improvements in connection with the Project; and WHEREAS, the City has previously negotiated in good faith for the acquisition of said properties from the owners thereof, which negotiations have been unsuccessful; and WHEREAS, the acquisition of the properties is desirable and necessary for the construction of the improvements associated with the Project, and is in the public interest, by reason of the fact that the Project would enhance the public health, safety and welfare; and WHEREAS, the acquisition of such properties may, by law, be accomplished through proceedings in eminent domain. NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby approves the Railroad Consolidation Project as described in the Project Report. Section 2. That the City Council hereby finds and determines that it is necessary in the public interest to acquire the real property described on attached Exhibit 'B", which is incorporated herein by this reference, for the purpose of constructing railroad and utility improvements in connection with the Project. Section 3. That the City Council hereby authorizes the City Attorney and other appropriate officials of the City to acquire the said real property for the City by eminent domain proceedings. Section 4. The City Council finds, in the event that acquisition by condemnation of any parcel described in this Resolution is commenced, that immediate possession is necessary for the public health, safety and welfare. Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held this 18th day of A rill A.D. 1995. ayor ATTEST: -�� / ity Clerk Exhibit A CITY OF FORT COLLINS DOWNTOWN RAILROAD TRACK CONSOLIDATION PROJECT REPORT PROJECT STATUS PHASE I CDOT has prepared the agreement for Phase I, between the City, BNRR, UPRR, and CDOT. The agreement should be signed by all parties in February. CDOT also prepared the application to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for authority to construct Phase I. It will be signed and submitted in February. The railroads are in the process of ordering the track and signal- materials. The-preconstruction-meeting-has been-set-for March-29- and construction targeted for August and September 1995. PHASE II CDOT and the City will be preparing agreements for Phase II which should be ready for signatures in May. Design, utility coordination, ROW acquisition, and the PUC application are underway. Construction is targeted to start in September 1995 and be completed by June 1996. PHASE III Preliminary design, ROW acquisition, and advanced coordination are underway. Construction is targeted to start after September 1995 and be completed in August 1996. CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE PHASE I July - September 1995 PHASE II July 1995 - June 1996 PHASE III September 1995 - August 1996 PROJECT COST ESTIMATE PHASE I $694,000 PHASE II $887,000 PHASE III $964,000 CONTINGENCY $200,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED COST TO DATE $2,745,000 PROJECT FUNDING CITY OF FORT COLLINS $700,000 UNIONPACIFIC RAILROAD $395,000 BURLINGTONNORTHERNRAILROAD $487,000 COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION $250,000 FEDERAL HIGHWAY $761,000 TOTAL FUNDING TO DATE $2,593,000 ESTIMATED COST TO DATE $2,745,000 POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL FUNDING NEEDED $152,000 *** *** As the plans and better cost estimates are prepared for Phases II and III, staff will be able to determine whether additional funding will be necessary. If a shortage of funds exists it will occur in Phase III. At this time we recommend proceeding with Phase I. PROJECT BACKGROUND OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT The City of Fort Collins, the Burlington Northern Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Federal Rail Administration, and the Federal Highway Administration have a unique opportunity to work together to consolidate the railroad tracks in the downtown area to provide major benefits for the citizens of the City of Fort Collins and the State of Colorado, interstate travelers and truckers, and for both Railroads. PROJECT PURPOSE A large increase in UPRR&BNRR rail traffic over the last eight years in Fort Collins due to mostly the Anheuser Busch Brewery and the Holnam Cement Plant has been causing major traffic congestion in downtown Fort Collins. College Avenue (State Highway 287 & 14) and Mulberry Street (State Highway 14)are being heavily impacted by the current train operations. College Avenue with over 24,000 vehicles per day experiences up to 60 minutes in delays each day due to train operations. Mulberry Street with over 20,000 vehicles per day experiences 20 minutes in delays each day due to train operations. The current train operations are very inefficient, requiring the BNRR trains to cross College Avenue 8 times per day to exchange freight cars with the UPRR and another 4 times a day to go to Greeley. The UPRR trains block Mulberry Street up to 20 minutes each day when they deliver the exchange cars to the BN/UP exchange tracks along Willow Street between Lincoln Avenue and Linden Street. Lincoln, Linden, and Cherry Streets are also blocked for large periods of time each day. These delays are very frustrating to the thousands of motorists who have to wait at these crossings for up to 15 minutes. The delays are also causing air pollution in our downtown area which also affects thousands of people each day. Presently the crossings on Lincoln Avenue and Linden Street and two crossings on Cherry Street and College Avenue are not signalized. With the increase in train traffic these unsignalized crossings have become a safety concern. The crossings on Mulberry Street presently have flashing signals, but no gates. Due to the closeness of the two tracks and angle of the tracks there is no way to install signals with gates until one of the tracks is removed. PROJECT SCOPE The proposed track consolidation project will construct ajoint use BN/UP track from Lemay Avenue to just east of College Avenue along Riverside Avenue. A new connecting track will be installed east of College Avenue to tie the BNRR mainline in to the new consolidated track. This will eliminate the need for the BNRR to cross College 8 times to exchange cars and 4 times to go to Greeley. A new exchange track will be constructed between Lemay Avenue and Prospect Road which will eliminate the exchange of freight cars in the downtown and the delays on Mulberry Street. Flashing signals with gates will be installed at Linden, Lincoln, Mulberry, and Lemay on the consolidated track and on Willow at the crossing on the new connection track. Fourteen railroad crossings and miles of excess track will be removed, which will provide for a much smoother ride for our motorists and open up land for redevelopment. PROJECT PHASING - (Also See Attached Map) PHASE I The scope of Phase I is to consolidate the BNRR and UPRR on to the BNRR's track from just east of Lemay Avenue to just north of Mulberry Street(highway 14). The UPRR track will be removed between Lemay and Mulberry and the UPRR crossing will be removed from both Lemay and Mulberry. New railroad signals with gates and concrete railroad crossing material will be installed on the remaining BNRR crossing at both Lemay and Mulberry. This will improve safety and ride quality across the railroad crossing for motorists on Mulberry. PHASE II The scope of Phase II is to construct the new connection track east of College Avenue between the BNRR mainline and the UPRR branch line which will become the joint use track east of that point. Crossing signals with gates and concrete railroad crossing material will be installed at the new crossing on Willow Street. The BNRR branch line crossing on College Avenue and Cherry street will be removed and the UPRR crossing on College Avenue and Cherry Street will be upgraded with new track and crossing material. This will greatly reduce the traffic delays caused by the trains on College Avenue and will improve the ride across the railroad crossings for motorists. PHASE III The scope of Phase III is to construct the new exchange tracks east of Lemay Avenue and remove the existing exchange tracks and switch yard tracks in the downtown area east of College Avenue between Willow and Jefferson Streets. The joint use track will be constructed from west of Linden Street to just north of Mulberry Street and the UPRR track along Riverside Avenue between Lincoln and Mulberry will be removed. Crossing signals with gates and concrete railroad crossing material will be installed on the joint use track on Linden Street and Lincoln Avenue. The removal of all but the joint use track between Willow and Jefferson will allow for the area to be redeveloped, and will eliminate the noise and traffic congestion caused by the switching of railroad cars. PROJECT BENEFITS SAFETY Installing flashing signals with gates on five crossings and removing fourteen unsignalized crossings will greatly improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists. By reducing the delays and traffic congestion the emergency services vehicles will have less difficulty responding to calls north and east of the downtown area. AIR QUALITY Improving the efficiency of the train operations in the downtown area will reduce the current 60 minutes of delays per day on College to less than 30 minutes and reduce the current 20 minutes of delays per day on Mulberry to less than 5 minutes. This will reduce the air pollution caused by being delayed by inefficient train operations. TRAFFIC FLOW Reducing the delays to motorists will reduce the traffic congestion in the downtown area and reduce peoples frustration. Also peoples time and fuel will be saved. SMOOTH RIDE Removing fourteen railroad crossings and installing new crossing material on seven railroad crossings will dramatically improve the ride quality for motorists and bicyclists, and reduce the wear and tear on vehicles. DEVELOPMENT Reduced tr.�'n activity and the elimination of miles of track will allow continued redevelopment of the Downtown, the Poudre River, and North College. Both the Downtown Plan and the Poudre River Trust Plan require the consolidation of the tracks before these plans can be fully implemented. The growth of the City to the north and the vitality of the businesses on North College will be enhanced by removing the delays caused by the trains. PROJECT IMPACTS RIGHT OF WAY Three parcels of land need to be acquired for the new tracks that will be constructed. They are as follows: Schrader Oil - The new connecting track east of College Avenue will cross through Schrader Oil's gasoline distribution facility and across some vacant property. This will impact their present operation of this facility. Northside Atz1an Community Center- The new connecting track will be built across the west side of the property. Approximately twelve trees will have to be relocated on site. The entrance will have to be relocated to the east. Upland Industrial Park - A connecting track between the UPRR and the BNRR will cross a vacant lot in the Upland Industrial Park. This parcel will be acquired from Academy Court Enterprises which purchased this land from the UPRR. HOFFMAN MILL These people had a concern about the new location for the exchange RESIDENTS tracks being near their homes. We have worked with them and the railroads and feel that their issues have been addressed. The railroads have agreed to park the cars being exchanged as far to the east as possible to avoid parking the cars in front of their homes and businesses. LEMAYRRXING Currently four trains cross Lemay Avenue at Riverside each day. Once the @ RIVERSIDE exchange tracks are installed east of Lemay there will be from four to seven trains crossing Lemay Avenue each day. This will cause a slight increase in delays to motorists at this crossing. FORT COLLINS N PROPOSED TRACK CONSOLIDATION PROJECT TRAGK5 TO REMAIN --- ---TRAGK5 TO BE REMOVED O PROPOSED GROSSING IMPROVEMENTS VNE DRIVE BNRR PHAS TO BNRR'S PROP ONNECTION TRACK NORTH SWITCH AU MENT T PACILATATE YARD [Mmy sT TRA K CO OUDATION PROJECT A e PROPOSED NEW TRACK o AUGNMENT TO PACILATATE TRACK CONSOLIDATION PROJECrHWY14 W O PROPOSED JOINT a j 9�C BNRR UPRR TRACK L G PHASE III ��r,. J UBERR STR ET r u PHASE I `q� i i,, PROPOSED 4 BNRR IN UPRK TRACK CEXISTNG BNRR TRACKS) LP'e4 PROP05ED BNRR + UPRR EXCHANGE TRACKS PROPOSED NEW RAG PROPOSED CONNECTION TRACK PHASE III o 0 s W m s A P S EC R AD I TRACKDWC E-hibit B DESCRIPTION OF THE SCHRADER PROPERTY FOR RAILROAD CONSOLIDATION A tract of land located in the Northwest Quarter of Section 12, Township 7 North, Range 69 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, also being a portion of that certain tract of land described in a Deed dated July 17, 1975 and recorded in Book 1654 at Page 177 records of the Clerk and Recorder of the said Larimer County, and is also a portion of that certain tract of land described in a Deed dated November 18, 1968 and recorded in Book 1347 at Page 498 records of the said Clerk and Recorder more particularly described as follows; Commencing at the easterly most corner of Block 6, City of Fort Collins, the said easterly most corner is located on the southerly right of way of Willow Street as now located, at its intersection with the westerly right of way of Pine Street now vacated; THENCE along the said southerly right of way of Willow Street, North 48 degrees 50 minutes 34 seconds West for a distance of 331.56 feet to the TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING of this description; THENCE continuing along the said southerly right of way of Willow Street as now located, North 48 degrees 50 minutes 34 seconds West for a distance of 67.03 feet; THENCE leaving the said southerly right of way, South 00 degrees 35 minutes 55 seconds East for a distance of 138.44 feet; THENCE along a curve to the left having a radius of 694. 69 feet, a central angle of 02 degrees 45 minutes 36 seconds and an arc length of 33.46 feet, being subtended by a chord of South 01 degrees 58 minutes 43 seconds East for a distance of 33 .46 feet to the south line of the said tract described Book 1654 at Page 177; THENCE along the said south line, non-tangent from the previous curve, South 69 degrees 04 minutes 34 seconds East for a distance of 55.29 feet; THENCE along a non-tangent curve to the right having a radius of 644.69 feet, a central angle of 04 degrees 46 minutes 53 seconds and an arc length of 53.78 feet, being subtended by a chord of North 02 degrees 59 minutes 21 seconds West for a distance of 53.78 feet; THENCE North 00 degrees 35 minutes 55 seconds West for a distance of 93.80 feet to the point of beginning. Containing 7986 square feet more or less. TOGETHER WITH: A tract of land located in the said Northwest Quarter of Section 12, Township 7 North, Range 69 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, also being a portion of that certain tract of land described in a Special Warranty Deed dated September 4, 1984 and recorded in Book 2288 at Page 418 records of the said Clerk and Recorder, more particularly described as follows; Commencing at the southerly most corner of the said tract described in Book 2288 Page 418, the said southerly most corner is also PAGE 1 OF 2 the TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING of this description; THENCE along the southwesterly line of the said tract described in Book 2288 at Page 418, North 48 degrees 51 minutes 16 seconds West for a distance of 200.92 feet; THENCE leaving the said southwesterly line, along a non- tangent curve to the right having a radius of 694.69 feet, a central angle of 16 degrees 21 minutes 27 seconds and an arc length of 198.16 feet, being subtended by a chord of North 20 degrees 38 minutes 58 seconds West for a distance of 197.66 feet to the northeasterly line of the said tract described in Book 2288 at Page 418 ; THENCE along the said northeasterly line, non-tangent from the previous curve, South 48 degrees 50 minutes 34 seconds East for a distance of 91.42 feet; THENCE leaving the said northeasterly line, along a non- tangent curve to the left having a radius of 644.69 feet, a central angle of 26 degrees 32 minutes 22 seconds and an arc length of 298.32 feet, being subtended by a chord of South 32 degrees 17 minutes 49 seconds East for a distance of 295.96 feet to the southeasterly line of the said tract described in Book 2288 at Page 418; THENCE non-tangent form the previous curve, and along the said southeasterly line, South 41 degrees 09 minutes 26 seconds West for a distance of 9.06 feet to the point of beginning. Containing 12463 square feet more or less. The above described tracts are subject to all easements and rights of ways now existing or of record. I hereby state that the above description was prepared by me and is true and correct to the best of my professional knowledge, belief and opinion. The description and areas are based upon previously recorded plats and deeds and not upon a actual monumented field survey. WALLACE C. MUSCOTT COLORADO P.L.S. 17497 P.O. BOX 580 FORT COLLINS, CO 80522 aauwaunrud� p. E CRAIG •, * 17497 fib G-•^-k !. Jk PAGE 2 OF 2