So I got this email forwarded to me by a city councilor yesterday, I’m not sure who sent them this (SF public works or BNSF) but I found it a bit humorous, to say the least;
We evaluated the potential changes to railroad operations as part of the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the project.  There is a BNSF Sioux Falls Operations Plan that is in the appendix of the EA.  It was anticipated that an extra 2 to 5 rail cars per month would need to utilize this area for parking and storage due to the track removal in the downtown yard.
If there is additional train traffic above this estimated amount, it is likely due to a higher customer demand, not because of the Rail Yard Redevelopment project.  For instance, Egger Steel is one of the businesses served by the track in this neighborhood and may be receiving or shipping additional steel due to market needs.
It’s no secret, Former Mayor Bucktooh & Bowlcut used to tell some pretty tall tales, but, after reading this, it is no surprise to me that the two (BNSF) negotiated the worst agreement in the history of our city.
First off, I don’t think I have ever thought the RR Redevelopment project has been causing the extra cars to be parked in the area, my point is that we should have negotiated that NO cars can be parked in the area. We gave BNSF millions to build a new switchyard out of downtown, why don’t they use it?
As for the 2 to 5 cars, LMFAO! If you go by the Nelson Park skate park or just North of Avera you will see between 40-60 cars parked in those area’s over the weekend and throughout the week. Are some of them steel cars? A few, I guess, but most are grain, lumber and biofuel cars.
I fully understand that we will still have to have rail traffic through downtown due to the suppliers, but I question why we need to park and switch these cars in this area? Seems the Railroads are blowing a lot of smoke.
What about the eventual “High Speed Rail” depot and track planned near the Brandon area, won’t that eventually relieve most of the problems?….. 😉
Everything Huether negotiated with BNSF suckered the city. I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes their lobbyist. The ‘Businessman’ mayor worked well for Huether but cost taxpayers hundreds of millions in bad deals, toxic cleanup, and inferior design/construction.
We will be paying for Coors Light & Olives spending spree for decades. Funny how there was no talk about new schools and water plants when we were suckering SF taxpayers for the EC, Pool and Admin building.
I’m sympathetic for the new mayor. There’s no money for infrastructure and revenue is down. The best he can do is make bond payments and paint a few streets black.