Rail project coming to Live Oak
Four crossings in city to be blocked at different times during work
Live Oak residents will experience detours to get from one side of town to the other when Union Pacific’s rail line improvement project arrives in the next few weeks.
“They’re going to be affecting every at-grade crossing,” said city Public Works Director Michael Bohlander.
Union Pacific is in the process of making improvements on its lines throughout Northern California.
According to a memorandum that Bohlander sent to the Live Oak City Council on Thursday, the project involves replacing wooden railroad ties under the tracks. The work requires removing concrete panels at road crossings, compacting ballast rock as part of the railroad bed and welding the rails.
The crossings at Larkin Road, Elm Street, Pennington Road and Kola Street will be affected, Bohlander said.
In addition, the Union Pacific representative told Bohlander the city is responsible for providing traffic controls and repaving the roadway disturbed by the improvements.
The work will require one-day closures at the crossings except for Pennington, which will require two days.
No more than one intersection will be closed at a time.
“It’s not a major deal - it’s going to be an inconvenience for a day,” Bohlander said.
Estimates from a Union Pacific-recommended contractor working on crossings in the Wheatland area peg the cost of repaving the four Live Oak crossings at $42,821, Bohlander said.
“I’m OK with working with them and coordinating with them, but being a small city, it’s tough to find this money lying around,” he said.
Mark Davis, Union Pacific’s Western Region public affairs director, was unavailable for comment.
Appeal-Democrat reporter Robert LaHue can be reached at 749-4713. You may e-mail him at rlahue@appealdemocrat.com.
