Palo Parado Crossing
PALO PARADO UPDATE - NOV 2009 (click here)
The Baca Float Coalition, Inc. is working to keep the Palo Parado railroad crossing open and to support efforts to improve the road and build an all-weather crossing with a bridge.
A brief history of the Palo Parado crossing
The Palo Parado Road crossing has been used as a ranch access to the west side of the Santa Cruz River since the early 1950s. Ranchers used the area next to Palo Parado as a place to gather and feed cattle. Rio Rico residents started to use the Palo Parado Road as a quick way to get to the I-19 corridor.
After 1967 when Gulf American began the Rio Rico development, Palo Parado began appearing on real estate plats in conjunction with a proposed industrial park in the area where horses and cattle currently graze. Until the late 1980s, Gulf American and its successors GAC and Avatar were legally committed to building a bridge at Palo Parado. The county supervisors released them from that bond under suspicious circumstances. Use of the Palo Parado crossing has increased over time and the recent estimate of use is 1400 vehicle trips per day.
In the spring of 2008, Union Pacific (UP) Railroad threatened to close the railroad crossing at Palo Parado due to the increased use and their concern for safety of vehicles using the crossing. Union Pacific recently rehabilitated the tracks in order to increase train speed and number of trains using the line.
Responding to the threatened closure, Santa Cruz County agreed to accept Palo Parado Road as a public roadway. First United Realty (Santa Cruz River Access, LLC) and Avatar donated the easement to the County, and First United agreed at their own expense to improve the road to county standards from the end of Caballero Corte to about 200 feet west of the Union Pacific tracks.
The County applied to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) for funding to construct railroad-crossing safety signage and crossing arms at the improved crossing. The County qualified for and was granted the funds pending a signed easement agreement between Santa Cruz County and Union Pacific Railroad.
At the September 24, 2008 Board of Supervisors meeting the Board voted to accept the language in the easement agreement. On October 1, 2008, the signed easement agreement was forwarded to Union Pacific for their signature with engineering drawings for the work to be completed at the crossing. In the agreement the county agreed to improve Palo Parado Road to an all-weather crossing within seven years.
As of December 2008 Union Pacific Railroad signed and returned the "Interim Public Road Crossing Agreement" to Santa Cruz County. County. County staff forwarded a copy of the agreement to ADOT. ADOT will submit the signed agreement to the Federal Highway Administration for the Section 130 funds to pay for the construction and placement of the railroad-approved advanced safety signals at the Palo Parado crossing.
Where We Are Today
As of July 2009, more than 17 months after Union Pacific Railroad announced their intentions to close the railroad crossing, not much has physically changed on Palo Parado Road. But much work has been done behind the scenes to identify funding for a bridge and to keep the railroad crossing open.
Some of the physical improvements include road grading and maintenance work completed by Collins Excavating earlier this year and speed limit signs installed by members of the Baca Float Coalition. In addition there was an effort to raise funds to help support continued road maintenance work, but that effort was not very successful with only three individuals contributing a total of $225 to the Baca Float Coalition Road Maintenance Fund. Baca Float Coalition Board of Directors voted to contribute $500 to Collins Excavating for his effort to keep the road in a usable condition.
Santa Cruz County responded to the County's insurance carrier over their concerns of liability with public use of the Palo Parado Road crossing. The County Public Works Department placed signs east of the railroad crossing along Caballero Corte to help mitigate those concerns.
Some things that have been done at the County level and through the efforts of County Staff have been very helpful in making the Palo Parado Road project more compatible with receiving funding through state and federal agencies. Santa Cruz County submitted the Palo Parado Road project to the South Eastern Arizona Governments Organization (SEAGO) Transportation Improvement Projects (TIP) for fiscal year 2010. The Palo Parado Road project has been included in the Arizona Department of Transportation's (ADOT) State Transportation Improvement Projects (STIP). Both of these designations have been an important step in the funding process for the county.
Everyone should know that Santa Cruz County has qualified for the ADOT 130 funds for railroad approved safety signals at the crossing when the upgrade or full project moves forward.
The engineering firm CPE Consultants is conducting the environmental review of the bridge site to obtain the needed 404 Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enter and do work in and around the Santa Cruz River channel. The proposed bridge across the Santa Cruz River has been lengthened to 880 feet from the proposed 440 feet in the Design Concept Report (DCR). A longer bridge will have less impact to the riverbanks. CPE Consultants has narrowed the scope of the impact to the riverbanks and may be able to qualify for a Nationwide Permit, which shortens the time to receive the permit from 2 years to 6 months. This work has been ongoing at the direction of the County Manager.
Santa Cruz County applied to ADOT to classify Palo Parado Road as a rural major collector. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) received and approved the application whereby Palo Parado Road now has been functionally classified as a rural major collector. This classification helps the project through the funding appropriations process.
County Manager Greg Lucero recommended and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approved the hiring of a lobbying firm to help with finding funding for the Palo Parado Road and Chula Vista wash projects. Both of these projects will not be able to be completed without federal government assistance. Through that effort, Congressman Raul Grijalva has submitted in a 2010 appropriation request in the amount of $1,000,000 through the Transportation, Housing & Urban Development, and Related Agencies for the Palo Parado crossing project. Congressman Grijalva also deemed the Palo Parado project a "High-priority Project" and requested $7,280.000 million to help fund the complete road and bridge project. This request does not go into the regular appropriations process and will be submitted through the surface transportation bill being crafted by the Committee on Transportation. However, the Congressman said that many of the funding requests will not be approved.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has requested $2,000,000 to help fund the construction of the Palo Parado Road project through the surface transportation bill; she recognized that the Palo Parado Road project is essential for the residents living east of Pendleton Road.
County Manager Greg Lucero said the most current cost estimate for the Palo Parado Road and bridge is about $9.1 million and the County must come up with a 20% match or about $1.8 million, if the County is successful and receives federal funding through the Transportation Reauthorization Act. The County's flood control district does not have the funds to cover that amount, however, it does have the money to cover debt service. Mr. Lucero recommended and the Board of Supervisors voted to authorize the County to apply for financial help from the Greater Arizona Development Authority (GADA) for an amount not to exceed $6 million to cover the match for Palo Parado Project and Chula Vista Flood Control Project.
In addition, Santa Cruz County and Union Pacific Railroad have agreed to delay the upgrade work to the railroad crossing that had been planned for later this summer. The reason being, if the County is successful and receives the federal funding requested for the road and bridge, the entire project would be completed. If the County does not received the federal funding, they will move ahead with the construction of the railroad crossing upgrade this year.
We are now hearing that some differences on the size of the federal funding bill have surfaced between the Committee on Transportation and the Obama Administration, so there may be a reduction in the amount of money allocated in the final bill that will be voted on later this year. This change may impact Santa Cruz County's funding chances in the current round of funding allocations. If this occurs, the allocation request will be re-submitted for funding in next year's bill.
There are many challenges ahead before any success can be claimed. The Palo Parado Road Project is not a sure thing as many of our friends and neighbors may believe. The County will know sometime late this year if the federal funding requested by Congressman Grijalva and Congresswoman Giffords has been approved. BFC needs to remain focused on the mission and goals that were established, and not be diverted in a direction that is counterproductive.
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