Relocating Fifth Street Extension prompts questions

Relocating Fifth Street Extension away from the river and further south toward the railroad tracks would turn homeowners’ land into valued riverfront property and allow for the building of a safer railroad crossing.

The transfer, however, would be complex considering the parties involved – the county, the state, the railroad, the power company, landowners and the general public. 

There were more questions than answers at a meeting Tuesday night when property owners, county commissioner Tony Berget, and Rick Flink of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad discussed the possibility.

“These are very preliminary discussions,” landowner Lee Disney said midway through the meeting. “I hear questions we need to answer, but I’m not hearing any major dissension.”

Disney recognized that some parties that were not present may oppose the idea. A few absent landowners had voiced concerns during the first meeting a few weeks ago, and Disney predicted that some members of the public might object to no longer having riverside views from the road.

Disney, who took a leadership role in the endeavor, said he wanted to make sure everyone was on board before making changes.

The county has plans to rebuild the road, Berget said, which is why it would be an opportune time to move it and build a safer railroad crossing.

“We (the county) will rebuild the road, take a 60-foot easement, put in culverts for the driveway and work with the railroad and state on the crossing,” Berget said, outlining ways the county would cooperate in the effort.

Flink, BNSF regional manager for Field Safety Support, attended the meeting to take notes and answer questions, but pointed out that the regional public projects manager, who was on vacation, would make any decisions.

He said that the current railroad crossing, which intersects at an angle that causes low sight distance, has a history of accidents and near misses.

“Personally, from a public safety standpoint, I would like nothing more than to move the crossing,” Flink said.

Rocky Schauer, who owns property next to the crossing, estimated that for every documented accident on the curve, there were probably six more involving drunk drivers who left the scene.   

Property owners in attendance all agreed that moving the road to the backside of their property would be beneficial, though they had questions as to how to fairly do that. For some property owners, it would be a simple land swap with the county – gain land where the current Fifth Street Extension lies and lose land where the new one will go. However, depending on how a new road is drawn in, some will lose land without gaining any, and vice versa.

The group will have another meeting on the subject Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.