While there has been a lot of talk about what kind of development that is being done on the old rail yard, there has been very little talk about how rail traffic will proceed once the project is turned over to developers.
We know 3 things for certain;
• Two tracks will remain in the same place DT next to the BNSF building that will also remain. A fence will be built between the line and property that will be developed.
• All the old staging area will not be used anymore (that’s the new development land).
• Two siding tracks are being built out of town.
What we don’t know is how much traffic will remain DT, will it be more or less, or will it get spread around over to Cliff Avenue? I think within a year the city and BNSF need to supply the citizens of Sioux Falls a ‘rail plan’ DT and just what traffic will look like and projected volumes.
A developer recently told me ‘I was wrong’ when it came to the rail traffic DT increasing after the rail yard closes. So prove me wrong, call up your BFF, Mayor Mike, and ask him to present a rail traffic plan to those who live and work DT. If the rail traffic becomes minimal, than it will truly be exciting.
The mistruths about the rail yard changes are a major fraud on the US taxpayers. BNSF needs a place to assemble mile long trains and still use the south rail yard where their scale will remain.
There will be more crossing action as the raIlcars are going between the south yard and Rice St.
What a fraud, kind of like our administrations efforts at open government.
This past Friday I saw exactly what rail traffic does to this town. A few minutes before noon on Friday a long train bottled traffic up for blocks on a half dozen cross streets between 49th Street and Cliff. 26th Street was past the interstate on the west side, and well past Cleveland on the east. Unlike the area downtown where you can just turn around and take another route (on the bridges or whatever), you’re trapped when this happens on this section of town.
Hello! As a train conductor who works in sioux falls; I feel like I have a little insight into the aformentioned issue. In terms of the amount of traffic, I have no reason to believe it will be decreased. DNI rock trains of over 100 cars will still rumble through downtown at their current rate, and so will BNSF grain and manifest trains. The only difference is that switching operations (where the train stops and moves back and forth between a couple tracks, blocking traffic the whole time) will be moved outside of town towards Brandon. It remains to be seen if the new yard will decrease downtown train traffic, although it is possible that the decreased amount of tracks will require more trips back and forth from the yard for the local switch trains. As of today I have heard nothing about rerouting any existing traffic, so basically; there will be the same amount of trains with less available tracks.
Have you any knowledge of adding sidelining tracks on the south east corner of the city?
The only track construction is on rice street. Anything else meant to alleviate the congestion downtown would have been started already.