Time, costs hinder hope of moving KCS rail lines
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

Efforts to create an El Campo rail bypass continue, but so far little progress can be reported on the hunt for a new right of way.

The Texas Department of Transportation is working with Kansas City Southern Railways and local officials to try to determine where a bypass could be created and how such an effort could be made a reality.

KCS is in the process of re-establishing a rail line between Rosenberg and Victoria along the old Southern Pacific corridor which runs through the heart of El Campo.

Current plans are for the track to be in service from Rosenberg to Kendleton by the second quarter of 2008 where a switch yard will be built. The entire line is scheduled for completion by early 2009.

Right now, plans for that track run through the center of El Campo.

But El Campo city officials, railway executives and state workers are trying to find a way to bypass the city.

"We are trying to identify what would be a mechanism," TxDOT Yoakum Engineer Lonnie Gregorcyk said Monday. "It's in the works."

El Campo Mayor Phillip Spenrath agreed.

"I still remain optimistic that the KCSR rail will not return to Evans Park," he said in a column printed in the Leader-News Wednesday. "While it is true that KCSR has started rebuilding many of their area rail bridges, all interested parties are continuing to pursue a set timeline that would allow for a bypass and thus protect the integrity and future of El Campo's economic development and downtown businesses."

Efforts are currently focusing on the U.S. 59 corridor, but to place rail lines there would require additional right of way, meaning environmental studies are needed as well as funding.

"The time line is the most difficult of everything," Gregorcyk said. "I would not say it is impossible. KCS is extremely cooperative, but they are in the business to generate revenue. They are not going to wait years."

Rail lines and their routes are typically the venue of the Surface Transportation Board, he added, saying it was unusual for TxDOT to work with the effort, but that they are trying to make the bypass plan work in both El Campo and Victoria.

The fact that rail lines haven't actually been placed yet gives the effort more standing, he said, but added that even if the track becomes operational without the bypass one may become possible later.

Cost is a factor since additional right of way would be needed.

At the U.S. 59 and Hwy. 71 South intersection, for example, there is not enough right of way to place a rail line.

Rail around the U.S. 59 corridor would also dramatically affect access for businesses in the area, he said.

While the value of land on the already existing corridor could be factored into any funding formula, Gregorcyk said, it would still likely require additional dollars.

"We hope we can do this," he added.

KCS has said it would be willing to work with bypass efforts and the search for new right of way.

Spenrath has said repeatedly that he believes the bypass is possible.

There are, however, no plans for the city of El Campo to participate in funding such an effort.

With so many cities wanting rail re-routed, it is unlikely the state would be willing to bear the cost burden.

Recently, cities in eastern Fort Bend County announced interest in moving lines there away from the Hwy. 90-A corridor.