Railroad crossing to come out as part of Hwy 64 work

Drivers in the city of Medford will soon have one less railroad crossing to worry about.

At Monday’s city council committee of the whole meeting, city coordinator Joe Harris told council members that the crossing on Broadway Ave. (Hwy 64) near Main St. will be removed entirely as part of the state’s road resurfacing project.

The work is expected to begin about mid-May with the road to be closed and detoured for about 10 days while the project is underway.

The rail line has not been used for some time with it red-flagged at the south end of the city. The fate of the entire spur from Spencer to Medford remains in doubt with the spur having been out of service for more than a year with a section of rail removed north of Spencer.

Council member Laura Holmes questioned if the railroad tracks to the north and to the south of Hwy 64 would remain in place or if they would be removed.

Harris said that as far as he knew the Department of Transportation is only removing the tracks within the right of way and that it had been a very recent decision to remove the crossing entirely.

He said he learned of it while at a recent preconstruction meeting for the Hwy 13 and Hwy 64 work projects and at that time, the DOT representative for the project had yet to receive the signed paperwork from the railroad.

Harris said the DOT crews would remove through sidewalk on the south side of the road and go far enough on the north side to allow space for the city to install a sidewalk on that side of the busy highway.

The city has had a longtime goal of wanting to extend sidewalk on the north side of Hwy 64 from Main Street to connect to the city park and beyond, but had been continually hampered by the excessive cost and bureaucracy involved of getting permission to cross the railroad tracks there.

While the road is under construction, truck and other through traffic will be detoured using CTH O to CTH Q to the south and west of the city.

In other construction related information, Harris explained that as part of the project, all of the pedestrian crossings along Hwys 64 and 13 are being replaced to improve accessibility and meet American with Disability Act standards.

Because of the federal funds involved with the project, while the ramped access points at the corners are being replaced, temporary accessible sidewalk entrances which extend out into the roadway will be in place. These will be removed when the corner work is finished.

City electric utility crews have been assisting with getting temporary lights installed at the Hwy 13 and Hwy 64 intersection this week in preparation for the reconstruction and reconfiguration of the intersection that is slated to take place this summer as part of the project.

Fiber access

The city of Medford will soon tap into the county’s fiber optic network which will be a boost for taxpayers.

As part of the Taylor County broadband expansion project, fiber optic cable was connected to all schools, town halls, village halls and the city hall with the county to provide free high speed internet access through the service. To this point, municipalities in the county connect through the county’s information technology department’s firewalls. The challenge with the city of Medford was because of its size and usage requirements, this solution would not work.

The county offered to split the cost of a switch device with the city and in exchange provide the city government with free broadband access for the next 19 years — which is the remaining length of time the county has a contract with WanRack, the company that designed and installed the fiber optic network.

Harris said since there was money involved he asked the county for a formal contract.

Mayor Mike Wellner said the contract had been reviewed by the city’s attorney with no objections raised.

Harris said while a firm cost for the switch has not been determined, as the county and city wait for its arrival after having been ordered several weeks ago, Harris told council members the expected cost would be between $2,000 and $3,000. The city would be responsible for half of that amount. In addition, if something were to happen to the switch, the county would be responsible for replacing it since it will remain in the county’s ownership. The switch will be physically located in the courthouse by the sheriff’s department part of the building.

In other business, council members continued the annual reorganization following the spring election with the selection of chairs for the council standing committees.

Dave Brandner will continue as Finance Committee chair. Randy Haynes will be the Public Safety Committee chair. Holmes will be the Public Works Committee chair. Ken Coyer will be the Public Utilities Committee chair.

115655_2

Traffic cones and work crews will be common sights in the city of Medford over the next few months as work gets underway for projects to resurface Hwys 13 and 64 and to rebuild the Hwy 13 & 64 intersection. Here workers install poles for temporary lights for the intersection. BRIAN WILSON/THE STAR NEWS