The taxpayers of Prince George are on the hook for more than $100,000 to upgrade the safety features at a railway crossing on Otway Road.
CN Rail is planning to install gates, bells, flashing lights and a constant warning time system at the crossing, located 4.2 kilometres northwest of Foothills Boulevard, city acting director of civic operations Blake McIntosh told city council on Monday. The roughly half-million-dollar project is expected to be finished this month, he said.
"A constant warning device is necessary to detect varying train speed for the new system to provide consistent warning time to motorists approaching the crossing. The addition of gates will further improve the overall safety at the crossing by reducing driver complacency and address existing roadway geometry and sightline concerns," McIntosh wrote in his report to city council. "In 2019, the same system was installed at both the east Otway Road crossing and the Wilson Park access crossing as part on CN’s rail line twinning project."
CN Rail received a federal grant to cover half the cost of the upgrade, required under new Transport Canada regulations.
As the authority responsible for the roadway, the City of Prince George is required to pay for half of the remaining cost of the project – estimated to be $118,000 to $132,250, McIntosh said. In addition, the city's monthly maintenance cost for the crossing will rise from $296 a month, to $326 per month.
The city pays to maintain a total of 11 rail crossings, McIntosh said.
"In layman's terms, the railway was there before the roadway, so they have jurisdictional control," McIntosh said.
Because the upgrade is not a city asset, the cost has to be a treated as an operational expense and need to be funded out of the city's operational contingency budget, McIntosh explained in his report.
"I am concerned that an entity can demand we pay 50 per cent of a project," Coun. Cori Ramsay said. "To be in the month of March, and having to use $130,000 from our contingency... it's not fair, frankly."
Coun. Brian Skakun said CN Rail has seen a significant growth in traffic to and from the Port of Prince Rupert, and the city could end up having to pay half of the cost for significant rail crossing upgrades.
"They apply for a federal grant and get it, and we have to pony up for the rest? It just seems strange to me," Skakun said. "From my perspective, we need to sit down with CN. There is going to be a huge amount of traffic going west. It's going to gum up some of these intersections."
Coun. Kyle Sampson said taxpayers shouldn't be building infrastructure for highly-profitable private companies.
"I think it's important railway safety, I do appreciate that part," Sampson said. "(But) I really have no interest in supporting their capital projects. It's not acceptable. This really bothers me."
Coun. Murry Krause said while the upgrades will improve safety for drivers, it doesn't address one major safety issue for residents of the area: access for police, fire and ambulance vehicles.
"If there is a huge train on the track, it doesn't change the fact that those vehicles can't get by," he said.
City council voted to refer the matter to the city's Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Resolutions, to raise the issue at the federal level.
