Cross about closing

Ken Johnston

The overwhelming feeling at a public meeting last Wednesday was that the Little Street rail crossing should remain open.
30 people attended the meeting held by Rainy River Town Council all of which but two were residents living north of the railway tracks.
Mayor Glen Armstrong noted that the town had received two letters against closing the crossing and one for its closure. He also said CN told him they would eliminate the train whistles through town if the Little St. crossing was closed and crossing arms were put on the Government Road crossing. He said CN is also looking at giving the land the CN Station, Museum and Farmer’s Market to the town. At present they lease it from CN. Other land between the highway and tracks may also be turned over to the town.
Mayor Armstrong said that whether Rainy River chooses to close or leave Little St. open CN will be moving forward on upgrades. “Transport Canada is putting pressure on CN regarding the number of unprotected crossings.” Council has been informed that CN has applied for the permits to upgrade both crossings and will begin work as soon as possible in the spring.
If Little remains open the cost to the town’s people will be $62,775.00 plus an annual maintenance fee of $3,000 per crossing. “That will result in a 30% increase in taxes to cover the costs,” said the Mayor.
However, if Little St. is closed CN will pay the entire shot to upgrade Government Road with crossing arms. Transport Canada will also give the town a one time $20,000 payment for the inconvenience of losing the Little St. crossing. Mayor Armstrong suggested that money could possibly be used to construct a road from Government Road to Hwy. 600.
Resident O.J. Nault questioned why Rainy River should have to pay anything and why CN’s portion is smaller than Rainy Rivers. “Why are we maintaining anything on CN property?”
Councillor Dean Wiersema explained that it is Transport Canada that sets the rules as to who pays for what. If both crossings are left open Transport Canada will pay $401,760.00, CN will pay $37,665.00 and Rainy River will pay $62,775.00. If the one crossing is closed Transport Canada will pay $200,400, CN $50,100 and RR nothing.
Retired railroader Bob Ewald questioned where the figures to do the work on the crossing came from. “These sound like figures Chuck Guite would come up with.”
Mayor Armstrong agreed to look into the costs and to ask an official from Transport Canada and CN to come to another public meeting.
While most people cited the inconvenience of losing the crossing some were concerned about safety. “Lives are worth more and time is of the essence for ambulances. Minutes can mean a lot,” said resident Joe Dobransky.
Another question arose about the crossing at the east end of town. Resident Norma Blight was concerned that it could be closed and councillor Dean Wiersema echoed that saying, “I bet you they will say they have two controlled crossings in town and look at closing it.”
That becomes a serious problem when the trains, many of which are two miles long now, are stopped at US customs for inspection. They quite often block both Government and Little crossings which are only about 500 feet apart. If the eastern crossing was closed and both of the other two were blocked residents would have to travel four miles around to 600 which would also be blocked.
The Mayor noted that the eastern crossing is in Dawson Township and that they do not know if CN is planning to do anything with it.
Residents Brent Westover and Bob Ewald questioned whether CN plans to increase speeds through town if they close the crossing. Mayor Armstrong said that CN did not indicate that.
Mayor Armstrong said he would also be exploring if or what other towns have had to pay including across the border in Minnesota where it has been rumoured that the local towns did not have to pay anything for the upgrades.

Resident Reg Kaus said that he feels CN should pay the cost for both crossings. “That is not a lot of money to them but it is to us.”
Bob Ewald who lives south of the tracks said he would not be in favour of spending $62,775 to keep the crossing open.
Carrie Windsor, a long time Little St. resident said, “I would like to see the crossing stay open. Little St. is where the most people live.”
No auto or train traffic study data was available for the people to see whether there is a lot of usage on both crossings or how often they are both blocked or if only one is blocked.
Mayor Armstrong promised to have another meeting on the matter but also said, “This is certainly going to inconvenience people but we (council) have to weigh the costs to the people in the community.”
Armstrong also pointed out that Fort Frances has only two crossings and is nearly ten times the size of Rainy River. However, Fort Frances does have an over and under pass.