Cedar Rapids, railroad propose deal for downtown crossings

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids and Union Pacific have a proposed deal to add railroad crossing gates and medians along the busy and noisy railroad corridor through downtown, which would allow the city to address disjointed traffic patterns in the core business district.

This agreement is a linchpin to continuing an initiative to convert one-way streets to two-ways, and it would help pave the way for a quiet zone through downtown, which could mean the end to regular train whistles.

'We have received agreements with the railroad company to construct the gates and medians along the Fourth Street railroad corridor, which is completely tied in with two-way conversions and being able to have the opposing traffic coming through,” Cedar Rapids traffic engineer Matt Myers told a city infrastructure committee earlier this week.

The agreement has not yet been finalized, said Emily Muhlbach, a city spokeswoman.

An agreement has been the main hurdle to correcting the patchwork of traffic patterns where streets move from one-way to two-ways and back again, causing consternation for motorists and cyclists. Myers said the crossings are oriented for one-way streets and traffic controls need to be added to accommodate those traveling in the opposite direction before the railroad signs off.

'It improves safety for the railroads ... and it is necessary if we want to consider quiet zones,” Myers said. 'We have to have gates and medians to prevent people from going around the gates.”

A half-mile of track protected from traffic is needed in order to designate a quiet zone. The plan is to have gates and medians along the track from the Doubletree Hotel on First Avenue SE to Fifth Avenue SE.

Concerns about the traffic patterns are one of the top issues citizens raise, said Ralph Russell and Scott Olson, city council members who sit on the infrastructure committee.

'We hear the most about - whether it's the bike lanes or the one-way streets - it still is confusing to many people, and we've been waiting on the railroad, and it sounds like you are making good progress,” Olson said Tuesday during a meeting at City Hall.

The agreement with the railroad has helped crystallize the timetable for upcoming street conversions from one way to two ways.

For 2016:

' Second Avenue SE from Physicians' Clinic of Iowa at 12th Street SE to 19th Street SE

' Seventh Street SE from Fourth Avenue SE to 12th Avenue SE.

' Third Avenue SW from Fifth Avenue SW to Sixth Street SW.

' Second Avenue SW from Fifth Avenue SW to Sixth Street SW.

The latter two would connect with the Second and Third Avenue conversions that took place last year closer to downtown, Muhlbach said.

For 2017:

' Second Avenue SE from First Street SE to Seventh Street SE.

' Third Avenue from Third Street SE to Eighth Street SE.

' Fourth Avenue from Third Street SE to Fifth Street SE.

These three would include the railroad tracks and would eliminate the disjointed traffic patterns caused by the streets switching from one way to two ways.

' Third Avenue SE from 13th Street SE to 19th Street SE.

In design for 2018 and 2019:

' Fifth Avenue SE from Third Street SE to 19th Street SE.

One-ways under review for conversion but unscheduled:

' 15th and 16th Avenues SW from where they split near C Street SW to where they converge again just west of 12 Street SW.

Myers noted 15th Avenue is slated for road construction, and the question is to be raised at that time if the roads should be converted.

One-way streets not currently being considered for conversions:

l Center Point Road NE, Oakland Road NE, L Street SW and Third Street SW.

'We are getting requests from the public, mostly people between the streets, they would be interested in us switching it to two-way operations because you go through the little neighborhoods,” Myers said about Center Point and Oakland.

However, he added, those streets are more complicated because of major intersections.

Cedar Rapids officials didn't have a budget available for the full roster of conversions, but they can be costly. The city council in May approved a $1.4 million contract funded through the one-cent local-option sales tax for the Seventh Street SE reconstruction from Fourth Avenue SE to 12th Avenue SE and one-way to two-way conversion. Myers has said traffic controls needed at each railroad crossing could cost $250,000 to $500,000 per crossing.