By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
The Village of Mahomet is engaged in an episode of give and take.
The bottom line is that the village is willing to give a concession in order to take advantage of an opportunity for expansion.
More than two dozen community members received information and voiced concerns Thursday night at the Mahomet Public Library about the closing of an in-town railroad crossing that would enable a new one to be built approximately 2 miles to the east.
Village Administrator Patrick Brown made it clear that the village isn’t the ogre trying to force-feed change on its citizenry.
“We didn’t want to close anything,” Brown said.
The issue centers around the village’s desire to connect Churchill Road (which leads to Middletown Prairie Elementary School) further south to South Mahomet Road.
In order to do so, the new road would need to cross the Norfolk Southern Railroad line.
That’s where the give and take enters.
“The policy from the railroad is that as a community, you won’t get a new (crossing) unless you get rid of one,” Village President Sean Widener said. “Our hands are tied.”
Brown said the village didn’t easily agree to the concept from the outset.
“We planned on fighting it to the judge,” Brown said, “but our attorney said we wouldn’t win the argument.”
The process has encompassed much of this year.
“We spent nine months collaborating with the railroad and the ICC,” Widener said, “to help us understand their policy.”
There are six village streets which currently intersect the railroad tracks: Hickory, Division (Rt. 47), Walnut, Center, Sunny Acres and Prairieview Road.
Hickory, Sunny Acres and Prairieview were eliminated as possibilities to be closed because it would either cut off access to areas or make reaching some areas exceedingly difficult.
Division Street, as a state highway, was also not considered as a viable option.
That left either closing the crossing on Center Street or the one a block to the west on Walnut.
Police chief Mike Metzler called closing the railroad intersection at Center Street, “the best option from a public safety standpoint.”
Not all residents at the informational meeting were in agreement.
“If you shut off Walnut, it affects 13 houses,” said Randy Coffey a Mahomet resident since 1991. “If you shut off Center, you’re shutting off 170 houses.”
Brown said traffic counts for both Walnut and Center streets at Rt. 150 (Oak Street) are compiled by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The most-recent figures on the website are for 2016 and show 50 vehicles per day turning from Walnut and 100 from Center.
The Village has stated they do not plan to do a traffic study of their own.
“We have not done a traffic study and do not think one is warranted on low-volume streets,” Brown said.
If the closure of the railroad crossing at Center gains approval, a plan is expected to be put in place for residents driving north on Center who reach the tracks to make a left-hand turn onto a 20-foot access road that will be built and will lead to Walnut.
The village has calculated what it believes will be the inconvenience.
“In our analysis, it’s 13 seconds (longer) for emergency vehicles and cars, and 17 seconds for the (fire department’s) ladder truck,” Brown said. “We’re comfortable saying it will be under 20 seconds.”
Before most current Mahomet residents were born, Walnut Street was Rt. 47 South (curving around to Division Street).
The original concrete surface remains intact under the current Walnut Street topping and, Brown said, provides an excellent base.
Neither Norfolk Southern nor the Illinois Commerce Commission had representatives at Thursday’s two-hour meeting.
In a telephone interview from Springfield on Thursday, ICC road safety program administrator Mike Stead said there can be ways around closing a crossing.
“It’s certainly a goal (to close one if a new one is created),” Stead said, “but it’s not necessarily a requirement.
“We want to keep the number of crossings to a minimum. From a public safety standpoint, we encourage cities to eliminate unneeded crossings.
“It’s not a hard and fast rule, but more than likely, the railroad would like to see one closed.”
Brown and Widener acknowledged there are indeed other options and they work well if money is not a factor.
“The exception,” Widener said, “is a grade separation, a bridge over or under (the track). That’s roughly 10 times more.”
Brown estimated the cost to do a grade separation could reach $10 million.
“It’s not really an option,” Brown said.
Adding appeal to the plan currently being discussed (closing Center and making a cul-de-sac north of the tracks, and creating the access road south of the track), Brown said, is “the railroad is giving up its easement south of the railroad (for one block).”
Coffey said he is concerned about the future.
“What if the railroad is shut down in the next 20 years, then it would all be for nothing,” Coffey said.
His question is not necessarily folly.
The railroad track between Mansfield and Farmer City was removed in 2017.
Brown said that exact point was discussed with Norfolk Southern personnel.
“They indicated to us they have no plans on closing,” Brown said.
The railway splits west of Mahomet. One segment continues only as far as Mansfield. The other segment travels to the southwest.
By agreeing to close a crossing, the Village of Mahomet could gain financially.
“We offer incentive payments for voluntary closing of crossings.” Stead said. “The city could vacate the roadway adjacent to the crossing and receive some compensation, anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000, depending how much traffic uses it.”
Even if the project gets the green light, there will be no immediate changes.
“We won’t be proactive and do it sooner than we have to,” Widener said.
Brown believes the tradeoff will be beneficial in the future.
“We have to think what’s best long-term for the village,” he said.
For Metzler, the choice is clear.
“The benefit to having south access to the south side of the school (Middletown Prairie) outweighs the initial inconvenience and change we have to make,” Metzler said.
“Once people get used to it (Center Street closing), they won’t notice it in the long run.”
The downside of closing the exchange on Walnut is the difficulty delivery trucks would have negotiating turns at businesses on and near that street.
“The primary access is coming down Walnut,” Widener said. “They can’t make the turn.”
Nothing will happen until South Mahomet Road is extended, or at least until work on that project is well under way.
It could be two to three years before changes occur, though the Village of Mahomet has petitioned the ICC and Norfolk Southern for the new crossing.
Widener expects a pedestrian path to remain over the track on Center, if the cul-de-sac becomes reality.
The capital improvement plan budget numbers right now are only estimates. The connection road (on the railroad right-of-way) is projected at $150,000.
“However, with grant money, our share may be approximately $30,000 of that,” Brown said.
The closure costs for the Center Street location are estimated at $10,000.
Construction of a new crossing along South Mahomet Road is estimated at $1.5 million, though Brown said, “the majority paid for using TIF funds.”
Mahomet native Pat Cook is trying to remain objective.
“I can see their points,” Cook said, “and I can see my points.
“I’m not sure yet.”
He believes that if Walnut is going to become more of a thoroughfare, “it needs to be widened,”
Cook said. “Walnut is not wide enough to take two semis (in opposition directions).”
Brown said work on the street will happen.
“Walnut is due soon to have resurfacing and widen it a little,” he said.
Widener isn’t sure that Walnut Street will take the brunt of the extra traffic if the closure is made on Center.
“We think Rt. 47 will see the most increases,” Widener said.
Business owner Roger Jackson, who is located on Walnut Street, wonders what is next.
“If Mahomet expands another two miles to the east, does that mean another (in-town) crossing will be closed,” Jackson wondered.
The Village Board will meet on Tuesday, but there is nothing on the agenda relating to a possible railroad closing in the future.
