Group wants limits on railroad traffic

By SEABORN LARSON

Daily Inter Lake

As the Glacier Rail Park begins moving forward, one group of people is preparing to make a statement to rail businesses.

Stan Watkins, the self-described leader of a neighborhood group, said he started formulating the idea for a petition last month. He said the primary request in the petition is to keep the majority of rail traffic during “working man’s hours,” between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We’re weary of the new development going in,” Watkins said. “We’re afraid we’re going to have tons of trains coming back and forth. I want to emphasize we don’t want to stop progress — we see that it’s an opportunity for people who are promoting the Glacier Rail Park.”

Watkins stressed that the neighborhood group does not oppose the Glacier Rail Park development. He said he particularly likes the idea of a walking and bike path to replace the rail line running through town.

Watkins lives north of Evergreen near the point where the rail line crosses U.S. 2. He plans to take the petition to every place along the rail line between his home and the Glacier Rail Park site.

“They’re coming through at crazy hours,” he said, citing a train that rolled through Sunday evening blaring its horn. “If this thing [the rail park] is successful, like the city hopes it is, it’s going to increase traffic.”

Watkins couldn’t give an exact number of how many trains per week have hindered him on his route home or kept him up at night, but estimated traffic to be at about four trains a day.

Watkins has only accumulated a handful of signatures so far, but he said that everyone he’s spoken with has expressed support for the petition. Since he’s employed full-time, he’s limited to reaching the neighborhood on weekends.

He already reached out to the city, specifically Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson.

Johnson said he has spoken with Watkins about his concerns, although he has never heard of a petition like this from the community that asks a railroad company to readjust its rail traffic to meet residents’ schedules.

“We can talk with [BNSF],” Johnson said. “But because it’s federally regulated, I don’t think we could mandate anything from a city standpoint. It’s just making them aware of the discussion, and it’s a good time to have that discussion.

Johnson noted that the tracks have been there for 100 years.

In spring 2016, the project is expected to move forward beginning with the excavation and grading of the Glacier Rail Park site on the east side of Kalispell near Whitefish Stage Road and Flathead Drive. Businesses are planning to begin building facilities on the new property by 2017. The city and the Flathead County Economic Development Authority have said they believe the project can be completed in three year.

“We’re not opposed to commerce or my neighbors getting a job and everyone doing better,” Watkins said. “We don’t want to stop, but if you just sit at home, twiddling your thumbs, thinking, ‘I wish I would have [brought up the issue]...’ I believe they can still get their business done during 8 to 5, Monday through Friday.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.