Wrong side of the tracks part 3 ????

[chad thomas]

Port boom means rail rattle for Fife

As the Port of Tacoma, Washington positions itself to be one of the biggest container ports on the West Coast, it has been music to the ears of local businesses, longshoremen and economic development leaders.

Part of that growth, however, doesn’t sound so sweet to the City of Fife.

Port and Union Pacific Railroad officials want to add more tracks through Fife for the rail cars that carry containers from the port to the Midwest and East Coast. But Fife residents are concerned about more railroad noise affecting the growing neighborhoods near the tracks.

About 14 Union Pacific trains run each day through Fife. The company already operates a switching yard south of Interstate 5, and residents along the line have complained in the past about whistle noise and the din that arises when crews switch rail cars.

City Councilman Richard Godwin said an extra two tracks would be the equivalent of a second noisy yard, although no decision has been made yet on the number of tracks.

“Installing a switchyard in the back yard of Fife’s residential community is unacceptable,” Godwin said. “It’s troubling. How do you plan when all the players aren’t on the same page?”

The question illustrates the tensions of a city with something of a split identity. Fife has long staked its fortunes to the industries of the Tacoma Tideflats. The city’s distribution warehouses have created jobs and provided dependable tax revenue.

But residents overwhelmed by truck traffic, railroad noise and other effects of heavy shipping have pushed the city to shift its focus to residential growth. They’ve had some success: About 1,100 new homes are planned just south of the Union Pacific tracks.

The city also has taken steps to accommodate the railroad. In 1996, it agreed to close 54th Avenue East at the tracks so Union Pacific could extend a siding track. Many people complained at the time about railroad noise.

Lou Wolfrom, who lives near the tracks, said there’s not as much noise now, but train whistles still jar residents in south Fife during the summer.


Mike Bonck, another resident, said the banging and clanging of rail cars at 04:00 or 05:00 still wake him and his wife at times. “Sometimes it’s as bad as it used to be,” he said.

The additional tracks could extend from the switching yard through the crossing at 70th Avenue East and on to Freeman Road East.

Union Pacific says extra tracks are only an idea at this point. Spokesman John Bromley in Omaha, Nebraska, said the idea has come up in discussions as the port studies its rail needs for the next 25 years.

Smooth rail service out of the port is vital to the region’s economy and thousands of local jobs, as Tacoma competes with other West Coast ports for Asian trade. The port is served by Union Pacific Railroad and the BNSF Railway Company.

Michael Zachary, the port’s director of planning and logistics, said the growing trans-Pacific shipping business and the addition of new terminals at Tacoma mean the port could significantly increase its container traffic in several years.

The port needs places within a five- to 15-mile radius to form and park container trains. By freeing up the main rail lines, the additional tracks in Fife could help reduce the time it takes for trains to clear the port, he said.

Fife Mayor Mike Kelley and Public Works Director Russ Blount both said the extra tracks could help the city because:

• They could come with public money to build underpasses or overpasses at 54th and 70th avenues east. The city is interested in reopening 54th, which is now closed at the tracks.

• Underpasses or overpasses also could mean less noise from the trains because they wouldn’t have to use their whistles as they normally do when approaching at-grade crossings.

• The amount of switching noise might actually lessen in Fife because more trains would be put together in the Tideflats.

Wolfrom, the Fife resident, said he can’t see any upside to adding tracks through town.

“My biggest complaint is that the railroad doesn’t listen,” he said. “They don’t care if they make noise. I don’t want another line out here.”

But the mayor cautions it could be many years before the railroad adds tracks through Fife – if it does at all.

“The railroad was here first and we don’t know if they need our permission,” he said. “If they do, I’d like to see some sound barrier walls like those on freeways.” - Rob Tucker, The Tacoma News Tribune, courtesy Larry W. Grant

[spbed]

You know the RR's are considered in real estate as a public utility (a necessary evil) like water/electric companies so they have certain powers that normal entities do not. Having been in the SS business I would really doubt that Tacoma will surpass Seattle as the POE for the PNW. I saw the BNSF yard in So. Tacoma & it is only about 8 tracks that are not very long. In fact I watched a BNSF train being made up & took 3 forward & back up moves to empty I guess the 3 tracks that held the cars destined for that train.