Tekoa discusses land eyed for truck bypass

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Apr 02, 20140

The proposed Tekoa truck bypass project from 2012 remains on hold pending a matter, among other things, of how much land the city would need to acquire from Union Pacific railroad.

At the March 17 city council meeting, Mayor John Jaeger asked the council if they would want to buy the right-of-way property and the adjacent area where the rodeo arena stands.

At issue is that it’s still not known if the right-of-way or adjacent ground is free of contaminants which could significantly change the scope of any future construction there.

“This is just speculation but we don’t know what’s under there,” said City Councilman Roy Schulz. “That’s going to have to be known.”

In the discussion at the March 17 meeting, the council indicated that the ground would have to be tested before they would consider buying it.

City Attorney Stephen Bishop noted that the town could do a purchase agreement and then have an environmental study completed before the final purchase.

In the end the council asked the mayor to find out what the railroad says now regarding the land.

Two years ago, the city had approached the Union Pacific about acquiring the property and the railroad made a counter proposal.

“They came back and they wanted to sell us the whole shooting match,” said Schulz, referring to the arena ground as well.

The area of the arena is not needed to complete a truck bypass, which would create a route for heavy trucks to pass through Tekoa without going up and over Crosby Street (Highway 27) which is the main business strip. Instead, a bypass would be built on one of two routes; through the existing Ramsey street, a block off of Crosby, or on the Union Pacific right-of-way along Hangman Creek.

Both routes would veer off at the north end of town and connect at the south end before the bridge.

“We are trying more earnestly again (to talk with Union Pacific),” said Schulz. “The mayor’s going to try to get a hold of them.”

While the city doesn’t know if there is a potential contamination issue, funding sources and would-be partners on the proposed project are on hold.

“None of the other agencies can go forward with this until we’re sure what we’ve got,” Schulz said.

He went on to say that, according to the number he’s heard on what it might cost to buy the land from the railroad, the city would not be in a position to buy it outright.

All the while, he says support seems to be out there.

“We keep getting positive feedback from WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transpor-tation) on the project. We know the concerns, we know the need.”