The City of Livingston conducted a series of interactive community rail crossing meetings on June 18, June 25, and July 9, 2020, to gauge public interest and opinions to possibly finalize a proposal for a tax increase to self-fund an additional railroad crossing.
Talks regarding the need for an additional rail crossing began in 1977, and a most recent decision by the City Commission came in 2018 when they voted to pause a proposed $17.5 million dollar project to garner additional community input and to try to identify funding sources. In August of 2019, the City attempted to secure federal transportation grant funding to help with engineering costs but learned in December another community in Montana had been selected.
The City Commission will have the final say on whether or not a proposal would be included on a November ballot. The City will take public comment regarding these projects until 5 pm July 31, 2020. Email your comments to citymanager@livingstonmontana.org or mail to City Manager 414 E. Callender St. Livingston, MT 59047. For questions, call the City Manager at (406) 823-6000.
Q. Will the crossing be an overpass or underpass?
A final decision on overpass vs. underpass has not been made. The determining factor will be the geography at the point the crossing is constructed. If the railroad is naturally higher than the surrounding areas, an underpass is easier to build. If the railroad is lower than the surrounding areas and overpass makes more sense.
What are the cost estimates of a new railroad crossing?
No hard numbers can be determined until a determination will be made as to where it will be located.
Some preliminary estimates are:
- Planning: $1.4M
- Front Street Extension (including water/sewer): $5.3M
- Underpass Bridge: $3.1M
- Highway 10 widening: $1.2M
Total $12M
How will a new crossing be funded?
Construction design and location determine the actual dollar amound needed to fund a new crossing, we know that some funds will come from the following:
•Urban Route Funds
•Utility Costs
•Mill Levy
•SID (Special Improvement District)
•Costs are reduced as new properties are added to the district
What is the status of the federal grant application?
In June 2019, The City Commission approved the City Manager to apply for a federal planning grant with MRL.
- $940k for City/$1.99M for MRL
- $500k City match/ $3M match for MRL
- Awards usually in Dec/Jan
- Used for engineering, not study
- If successful will apply for a construction grant
We visited the
Transportation.gov website in December and were disappointed to learn Livingston was not awarded any funding for this project.
Where will another crossing be located?
The Transportation plan indicated the area near PFL way as the best location. The Star Road location failed due to the projected growth on the west side.
