As a part of KSHB 41's Let's Talk series, we're bringing you the voices from Kansas City's Northland in Liberty.
Plans are in place to construct a bridge at the Birmingham Road railway crossing in Liberty to avoid traffic congestion from an increase in trains, but it's going to cost much more than the city can afford.
Everyday, dozens of trains take Canadian Pacific Kansas City's (CPKC) most important railways connecting Chicago to the Kansas City metro. It's one of the reasons why the company decided to merge two years ago, therefore increasing the daily number of trains going through Liberty over the next seven years.
"We're beginning to feel the increase in trains now," resident and city councilman Jeff Watt said. "We're getting close to 40 [trains a day] when this is done."
The locomotives go through one of Liberty's most important thoroughfares, too.
Birmingham Road connects Missouri Route 291 with Liberty Parkway and goes through two major housing developments. The projects are expected to bring hundreds of residential homes over the next few years.
"[The railway] is going to be a tremendous delay for police or fire to get around through a detour," Watt said. "My main concern right now is safety."
A clear pathway for the community and first responders is why the 3rd Ward councilman is helping bridge the divide.
CPKC gave Liberty $250,000 to look into adding a bridge around the crossing. But it doesn't even come close to the cost of a bridge.
"$10 million is a sticker shock for a community of 32,000 people," Watt said.
"Does Liberty have $10 million in the budget to add a bridge like that?" KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne asked.
"No, no," Watt responded. "It may cause us to go back and just reconsider."
The high price derailed Liberty's plans to go around the railway. But now, the city is trying to get back on track.
"We're now looking at what the cost may be to go directly over the bridge to see how much we can find in efficiencies," Watt said.
Councilman Watt lives just three and a half blocks away from the tracks. While he says there haven't been any major problems yet from the increase in trains, he sees the urgency to keep the crossing clear.
"At this point in time, we're just trying to find a realistic option to build the bridge," Watt said.
Neighbors who live along the track have asked the Liberty City Council to draw up plans for a 'quiet zone' to counteract the increase in trains. But councilman Watt explained that it adds more dollars to the already high price tag.
"It was going to be approximately $1 million to fully establish this corridor for a quiet zone," Watt said. "The question was, do we want to spend a million dollars for a quiet zone, or do we want to put that million dollars toward the cost of the bridge?"
According to Watt, CPKC told the Liberty City Council that they would work with federal leaders and legislation to look for subsidized grant money to offset the cost of the bridge.
"Right now, we don't know what sort of financial help we're going to get," Watt said. "We just need to make sure this is an uninhibited crossing."
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KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability, solutions and consumer advocacy. Share your story with Isabella.
