College Station's long-running effort to move the Union Pacific railroad crossing at Capstone Drive so it lines up with Barron Road comes back to the City Council on Thursday, Oct. 22, with two consent agenda items that together add nearly $139,000 in engineering costs.
The first is a new reimbursement agreement with Union Pacific, estimated at $60,000, to pay the railroad for preliminary engineering work on the move. The second is a $78,938 amendment to the city's design contract with Halff Associates, which was first approved by the council in November 2016. Staff recommend approval of both.
A crossing that keeps getting redrawn
According to the staff summaries in the council packet, the goal is to shift the existing crossing at Capstone so it meets Barron Road, where the city plans a new traffic signal at Wellborn Road (FM 2154). Union Pacific's project description says the city would build a new crossing with sidewalks and a center median and close an existing one nearby.
Staff write that the project has gone through multiple revisions and phasing changes because of constructibility problems and coordination with both the railroad and TxDOT. The city had been working with Union Pacific under an earlier preliminary engineering agreement, but staff say the money under that purchase order has been used up because of the number of revisions and the time the project has taken.
The design work was originally one project. It has since been split in two:
- Phase 1 covers Barron Road from Buckingham Circle to William D. Fitch, with no work in TxDOT or railroad right of way.
- Phase 2 covers Capstone Drive and Wellborn Road, including all of the work inside Union Pacific's right of way, plus Barron Road up to Buckingham Circle.
What the money buys
The railroad agreement would have the city reimburse Union Pacific for all of its actual costs, whatever the $60,000 estimate turns out to be, for field inspections, plan reviews, design work, cost estimates and construction observation. The city would owe that money even if it drops the project or the railroad declines to approve it.
