City wants to keep rail hopes alive

State looks to save money on Corridor project

By SCOTT SMITH

There’s one very large obstacle to Kokomo’s long-term hopes for a north-south commuter rail line — the U.S. 31 Kokomo Corridor Project.

State officials have outlined a planned change to the $345 million Corridor project that would turn 125 East in Howard County into a dead-end south of Oakford.

Indiana Department of Transportation officials estimate they’ll save millions if they can avoid construction of a bridge to carry 125 East — and a Norfolk Southern railroad line — over the planned bypass.

It’s the rail line that especially concerns local officials.

Thursday, members of a local transportation planning board voiced opposition to Norfolk Southern’s plans to abandon the rail line, saying the move would be in direct conflict with local long-term transportation plans.

The unused railway line runs from downtown Kokomo to downtown Tipton. Norfolk Southern wants to abandon a 3.3-mile stretch that runs between the current U.S. 31 and the new bypass.

Local officials, however, consider that rail line essential to future north-south commuter rail traffic.

By replacing a section of track in downtown Tipton, which was removed some years ago, the line would stretch all of the way to Indianapolis, Kokomo city engineer Carey Stranahan said.

Each summer, the Indiana Transportation Museum organizes train trips between Noblesville and Tipton.

The museum is the same entity that runs the Indiana State Fair train between Fishers and the State Fairgrounds on Indianapolis’ near northeast side.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard also recently backed plans for a daily commuter route running from 146th Street in Hamilton County to Union Station in downtown Indianapolis.

Such plans — or any plans for Kokomo to be included in a future commuter route — are definitely long term, said Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight.

“I think we should maintain opposition to the abandonment, at least for that stretch of railway,” Goodnight said. “[A future commuter system] has the possibility to be expanded all the way up here to Kokomo.”

Concerns the rail line needed for those plans could be lost for good prompted local officials to act.

Thursday, members of the Kokomo-Howard County Governmental Coordinating Council voted to formalize opposition to the Norfolk Southern plans.

The GCC, which is chaired by Goodnight and includes several city and county elected officials, will ask the federal Surface Transportation Board to deny Norfolk Southern’s request.

“Here you have city and county, Democrats and Republicans all saying the same thing,” Goodnight said.

“It’s a connection to Indy, whether by rail or trail. Why would we give this up, permanently? It doesn’t make any sense.”

State officials have already asked Norfolk Southern to abandon the rail line, and the railway company has agreed to ask federal officials for permission, GCC director Larry Ives said Thursday.

INDOT spokesman Will Wingfield confirmed Friday the state no longer wants to build a grade crossing for the rail line.

“That’s the trend we’ve been seeing in places where rail lines have fallen into disrepair,” Wingfield said. “On the Ind. 22 project [the Sycamore Street widening], we severed the rail connection between Kokomo and Frankfort.”

Wingfield said that building a bridge to take the county road over the new bypass would be much less expensive than building a grade crossing for the rail line.

A grade crossing would cost between $5 million and $6 million, he said.

Simply installing flashing lights and running the rail line directly across what will essentially be an interstate highway would not be an option, he added.

“A grade crossing would require taking both directions of U.S. 31 over the rail line. If the rail line was abandoned, you would have other options. You could take the county road over U.S. 31. Or if the rail line becomes a trail, you could combine the trail with the county road bridge.”

If the abandonment is approved, Stranahan said adjacent property owners would be able to acquire the property and take out the tracks.

For Howard County officials, there’s also the question of 125 East, which runs parallel with the tracks between Ind. 26 and the Howard/Tipton County Line (500 South in Howard County).

INDOT’s original plans call for a bridge to carry 500 South over the new bypass.

The final decision on the abandonment rests with the Surface Transportation Board, however, and not with INDOT.

Stranahan said the city would like to use a process called “rail banking” to ensure the Kokomo-to-Tipton rail corridor is preserved.

The Indiana Trails Fund used rail banking to preserve the Nickel Plate rail corridor from Cassville to Rochester, Stranahan said.

The Surface Transportation Board ordered the unused line banked, then the Nickel Plate railroad and the Indiana Trails Fund negotiated a purchase price. The property has since been transferred from the trails fund to the Friends of the Nickel Plate Trail organization, he said.

• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

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