Willmar wye remains on track in state rail plan

WILLMAR - The return of rail passenger service to Willmar still appears to be a long way down the line, but don’t rule out the possibility that the long-discussed wye or rail bypass could happen in the not too distant future.
As interested residents joined at the Minnesota Department of Transportation office in Willmar to discuss the 2015 Minnesota rail plan now being developed, representatives of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company and Minnesota Department of Transportation met separately in another room to discuss the wye project on Monday.
At an estimated cost of $45 million to $50 million, the wye is among the “shovel ready’’ projects being included in the state’s 2015 rail plan, Dave Christianson, MnDOT project manager, told those attending the public rail plan meeting.
The Willmar meeting was the last in a series of meetings conducted across the state to gather input on the state’s 2015 rail plan. Comments on the plan can still be offered online at the MnDOT website through March 10.
MnDOT wants to have a final version of the plan ready by early March, so that projects on the list can be submitted for possible federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants in the coming year, often referred to as TIGER grants.
State and federal funds are being sought to fund about one-half of the wye’s projected costs. The project calls for building a 2.5-mile bypass to connect the BNSF’s Morris subdivision track, which runs northwest to Fargo-Moorhead, and the Marshall subdivision track, which runs southwest to Sioux Falls, S.D.
 The wye would run along the east side of Kandiyohi County Road 55 and include a spur into the Willmar Industrial Park.
Overpasses for motor vehicle traffic would be built at the intersections of state Highway 40 and County Road 55, and County Road 55 and U.S. Highway 12.
The wye is aimed at reducing rail and traffic congestion, but at least one participant at the Willmar meeting blamed the problems here on rail congestion between Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.
Rail safety, congestion, the impact of the Bakken oil boom on rail, interest in passenger rail service, and Amtrak reliability (or lack of) have been the major topics at the 10 open house meetings hosted across the state to date, according to Christianson.
There is growing interest in rail passenger service in much of the state. An advanced plan is nearly complete for a Twin Cities-to-Duluth line. Planning is moving forward for a true high-speed line of over 200 miles per hour to connect Rochester with the Twin Cities. Communities from the Twin Cities to Northfield and southward to Des Moines, Iowa, are also campaigning for the development of separate a passenger rail line.
And, work continues on a proposal to develop a second Empire Builder with Amtrak for service connecting Minneapolis and Chicago. The rail station in the Twin Cities now handles 100,000 people a year, making it the busiest train station in the country, said Christianson.
These rail passenger projects are likely to be listed as Phase 1 proposals in the state plan, meaning the goal is to undertake them within the next 20 years.
In contrast, proposals for rail passenger service to Willmar remain as a Phase 2 proposal, or something not likely to happen within the next 20 years, according to Christianson.