Whitefish pursuing grant for railroad overpass on East Second Street

Whitefish City Council gave Public Works Director Craig Workman the go ahead to apply for a grant to build a $42 million overpass on East Second Street after having discussed the railroad crossing elimination study at a recent work session.

Eighty percent of the cost will be covered by the grant, and the remainder will be split 75%-25% between BNSF Railway and the city. 

Plans for the overpass are still in the early stages, but reveal a horseshoe-shaped overpass following the current path of East Second Street. 

Spencer Dodge, the lead consultant from HDR, gave an update on the study, which looked at safety and access of four crossings in Whitefish: Birch Point, Baker Avenue, East Second Street and State Park Road. 

Dodge said emergency services, and barriers to those services, were major components of the safety-based study. 

Whitefish received a $400,000 railway crossing elimination planning grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. The project costs $500,000. The city and BNSF Railway are splitting the remaining $100,000, with the railway covering the majority of that amount. 

“BNSF is a partner in this,” Dodge said. “They've been kind of hand-in-hand every step of the way so far, and continue to be, really supportive.”  

Dodge said it is important that freight and passenger rail operate safely and efficiently and that there is public safety and multimodal connectivity. He said the plan is concerned with the safety of all users, bicycles and pedestrians, not just vehicles. 

“The main piece of this grant is the alternatives analysis,” Dodge said. “This is where we've looked at each crossing, we've done some conceptual engineering, transportation analysis, and looked at the environmental impacts at a really high level.” 

He has also completed some conceptual construction cost assessments. 

The crossing at Baker Avenue already has an overpass that has recently been improved, but it was included in the study. The first alternative is a no-build alternative with improvements focusing on maintaining current conditions, including signage and pavement preservation. 

At State Park Road, the plan is to maintain the existing roadway and rail crossing with improved signage and route maintenance with no change in the at-grade crossing. 

The same goes for the Birch Point crossing. The recommendation there is a combination of improving what exists and creating an emergency only grade separate access, although it is unclear whether the construction is feasible. 

The study looked at at-grade crossing improvements with the aim of making them safer with enhanced pedestrian bicycle safety features. 

It also looked at overpass and underpass grade separation for the three at grade crossings and found challenges with construction at all three. 

“You'll find State Park Road and Birch Point, from a constructability standpoint, have similar challenges,” Dodge said. “There's not a ton of space to get up and over, or to get underneath.” 

Britt Cremer, the strategic communication lead, shared results of a survey conducted in February about the crossings that had 102 participants. The goal of the survey was to learn which crossing garnered the most concern. 

Cremer said 35% of participants agreed that the crossing at East Second Street should be the priority for improvements. 

“It's still a significant job, but … of the three crossings, this is the most cost-effective,” said Craig Workman, Whitefish Public Works Director of an East Second Street overpass. 

It's a project Workman called “not insignificant.” The long build up ramps require a lot of space with an 8% maximum grade, and the overpass must be 23.5 feet above all the tracks. Workman added that it would completely change the entrance to the dog park. 

Reporter Julie Engler can be reached at 406-862-3505 or jengler@whitefishpilot.com. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.