One task remains for Railroad
Relocation
By Sage Ohashi
Staff
Writer
Motorists traveling in or through Lafayette will
be happy to know that most roadwork will be done in a way that will
prevent traffic congestion.
Other than at few major points such as the Main
Street and 11th Street intersection, and some road closings in southern
Lafayette, traffic problems remain low, said Liz Solberg, project manager
for the Lafayette Railroad Relocation Project. Union Street is also
scheduled to be closed at some point in the future.
In the final stage of the 30-year effort to relocate
railroads that cut through Lafayette, the Railroad Relocation Project
is left with the task of removing the old railroads and replacing them
with new streets. Although there are 41 different crossings that must
be worked on, Solberg said project authorities are doing their best
to keep traffic flowing.
"Road closings are sort of day-to-day," said Solberg,
going on to explain that when construction is being done, only half
of the road is worked on at a time so that vehicles have a way of getting
through on the road.
Solberg said that when possible, project authorities
are trying to avoid closing roads completely and doing any roadwork
during holiday seasons or Purdue home football games, when traffic is
heaviest.
Lt. Steve Hartman of the Lafayette police said
police planned with city officials to ensure that key roads would not
be closed on Saturdays.
"We worked it out ahead of time," he said.
Solberg said an advantage of the project was that
it sparked the city's interest in creating a high-speed passenger rail
service. She said that the Indiana Department of Transportation had
been looking into running these high-speed rails not only in Indiana
but also throughout the Midwest in conjunction with other states. The
purpose of these trains is to provide reliable service and plenty of
departure times throughout the day, said Solberg.
"You can’t add that many more runways to airports
and you can’t add that many more roads to highways," she said.
Lately, with the United States looking into other
modes of transportation due to the hurting airline industry, this high-speed
rail service has become a viable option of transportation, said Solberg.
She said high-speed rail transportation has also proven to work well
and efficiently in other countries, such as Japan, where the main method
of travel is by train.
At 5 p.m. today, the department will hold a meeting
at the Big Four Depot, on the corner of Main Street and Second Street
in Lafayette, to discuss the different aspects of the project. They
are holding this meeting to gauge the interest the commuters of Lafayette
have in this new mode of transportation. During the meeting, the department
will talk about the research that has already been put into high-speed
railway transportation and what it will take for this project to be
completed in this area.
If accepted, the rails will begin running sometime
in late 2003 or early 2004, said Solberg. Anyone interested in seeing
this type of transportation service should attend the meeting.
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