4. Positions of the Parties

The City of Gridley is a rural and agricultural community located about 60 miles north of Sacramento on State Route 99. The community has a high rate of unemployment and a 20% poverty rate. The new industrial park has promise of creating 800 to 1,000 new jobs and the potential for spin-off business in other sections of the community. The City has begun Phase 1 of the industrial park construction, with Phase 3 of the project set for completion within the next 20 years.

The industrial park will occupy 106.6 acres in the southerly portion of the City. Thirty-eight parcels are slated for development for industrial uses, 22 of them located west of Union Pacific's rail line. The main line of Union Pacific connecting California with the Pacific Northwest separates this portion of the development from SR 99. Trucks and other vehicles traveling to and from these 22 parcels and SR 99 must cross Union Pacific's tracks.

The proposed new crossing, according to City Administrator Jack Slota, would provide necessary vehicular access to and from the industrial park and improved and safer access to SR 99 (the major truck corridor in the region). He states that if the application is denied, the only alternative point of access to the industrial park would be an existing at-grade crossing at West Liberty Road.

Currently, the rural two-lane West Liberty crossing is the only access to the industrial park site. Union Pacific witnesses testified that, although this rail crossing is equipped with active warning devices, there is no traffic signal at the highway intersection, and the queuing or stacking distance for vehicles (about 200 feet) is insufficient to safely accommodate even existing peak traffic levels.

The City proposes to build its at-grade crossing along a new Industrial Way Road leading directly into the industrial park, while retaining the nearby rural crossing at West Liberty Road but eventually blocking access to the industrial park from that crossing. In exchange for authority to construct this new crossing, the City proposes to close an existing grade crossing at Laurel Street. However, the Laurel Street crossing has no relation to the industrial park development and does not physically connect to either SR 99 or to any truck route leading to the park. The testimony shows that the Laurel Street crossing is only lightly used.¹ The City's traffic study shows an average daily traffic (ADT) of 700 vehicles, while the proposed new crossing would have an ADT of 5,000 vehicles at full buildout.

The Laurel Street crossing is located three-quarters of a mile to the north of the industrial park, while the West Liberty crossing is located a quarter-mile south of the point where Industrial Way would cross the tracks.

While the City states that it eventually intends to block access from the industrial park to West Liberty Road, the record is not clear as to the timing and manner in which the City proposes this partial closure. In response to the recommendation of CalTrans that the West Liberty crossing be either closed or signalized, the City in its Mitigation Measure 3.3.2b provides instead that: "Prior to Phase 3 development of the project site, the City shall demonstrate that traffic generated by such development shall not have direct access onto West Liberty Avenue." (Exhibit 11.) However, the City's witnesses testified that no plans are now in place as to how traffic barriers will be placed to block access from West Liberty to the industrial park.

Union Pacific's witnesses testified that the railroad averages 18 through freight trains per day on this line, traveling from 55 to 70 miles per hour. Amtrak operates the Coast Starlight, with two daily intercity passenger trains. Union Pacific's manager of industry and public projects testified that he met with City officials in 2002 and urged that, with opening of the new crossing, the West Liberty crossing be closed because of the short queuing distance between SR 99 and the railroad tracks. He added that because the crossing is skewed, a truck driver could find himself stacked behind other vehicles and not realize that part of his trailer was sitting on the tracks.

Scott Bacsikin (Bacsikin), vice president and traffic engineer for the engineering firm of Willdan, testified for Union Pacific, urging that the City further consider a grade-separated crossing for the industrial park under the tracks or, alternatively, closing the West Liberty crossing. Even if the City blocks access to the industrial park from West Liberty Road, he speculated that trucks and other motorists are likely to still use the crossing and then, realizing that entry to the park is blocked, double back over the tracks to reach the new crossing, then cross the tracks a third time. He also criticized the relatively short queuing area between the West Liberty crossing and SR 99, adding:

It is never desirable to locate an at-grade rail-highway crossing near a busy intersection with a major highway due to safety issues that arise when the design fails to allow for space in the queuing area sufficient to accommodate larger vehicles. (Ex. 6, at 9.)

Bacsikin produced an exhibit prepared by the Willdan firm (attached to this decision as Attachment A) proposing that the City close the West Liberty crossing and reroute West Liberty traffic in a short detour through the industrial park to the proposed new Industrial Parkway crossing. The City has not responded to this proposal, other than to say that closing the West Liberty crossing could create a "political firestorm."

The City's witnesses counter that a grade-separated crossing into the industrial park is not possible because the cost ($15 to $20 million) far exceeds the City's annual general fund ($3.5 million) for all city services. It contends that closing the West Liberty crossing is not possible as a practical and political matter because rural residences and West Liberty business concerns rely on direct access to SR 99 via West Liberty Road. The City also rejects the CalTrans recommendation for traffic signals for West Liberty Road and SR 99 because of cost, proposing instead that entrance to the industrial park from West Liberty Road be blocked at some point to all traffic except emergency vehicles.

¹ In the Traffic Impact Analysis for Gridley Industrial Park dated February 13, 2003, the City's consultant kdAnderson found that traffic currently on Laurel Street would reroute north one block to Magnolia Street, the closest crossing of the railroad tracks. The report stated: "Based on the daily traffic counts conducted, Laurel Street is currently used by parents driving children to Wilson School. This traffic will be rerouted onto Magnolia Street and will incrementally add traffic heading to and from the school. This additional minor traffic will generally occur on the trailing side of the peak hour along Magnolia Street and will dissipate within a 20-minute period." (Ex. 10.)