If you’ve been in Rapid City, you’ve certainly heard them. The trains are loud, cause traffic jams, and some residents say they’re generally inconvenient.
The current Rapid City railyard is in the southeast of town along Campbell Street, and like other parts of the network, has received complaints from the public.
Community long-range planning manager Kip Harrington explained.
“That railyard along Campbell Street causes a lot of problems,” Harrington said. “Because it has to go over numerous tracks, it causes traffic delays in the southeast part of town because the switching movements block St. Patrick Street. So, one of the ideas that came out of (prior) study is what if we move that railyard somewhere else? Are there other locations in the community that would allow us to move that railyard switching yard to a better location?”
The Y-shape intersection is critical currently, and with no east-to-west rail movement it’s a major hang up for the area surrounding the railyard.
It’s similar to a proposal seen in Sioux Falls in the 2010s. Harrington said there are ways to finance the infrastructure.
“There are a lot of railroad grant programs out there available,” Harrington said. “We have spoken to the railroad about it, they’re all in favor of moving the railyard, except they don’t want to pay for it. So they’re looking for some other funding opportunity, so that’s something we’ll work on once we have the recommendations from this study.”
The study was ultimately approved with no opposition at this week’s public works meeting.