Davenport Iowa USA - A pending railroad merger would nearly triple the number of trains per day traveling through the Iowa Quad-Cities, raising concerns among Davenport and Bettendorf leaders about noise, safety, and the implications for future riverfront development and access.
 
"We have grave concerns," the Davenport City Council wrote in a letter to federal transportation officials of the "very real and detrimental impacts that will result from this merger."
 
"This merger will have economic, livelihood, and potential safety consequences to our community that need to be adequately addressed ahead of any merger approval," Davenport City Administrator Corri Spiegel wrote in a separate memo to federal transportation officials.
 
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) on Tuesday announced it has completed its acquisition of Kansas City Southern (KCS), paving the way for the first single-line rail network linking the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
 
The merger, valued at roughly US$31 billion, still requires regulatory review and approval by the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB).
 
CP and KCS said in a news release they expected the review by the STB to wrap up in the fourth quarter of next year.
 
The STB is accepting public comment through Friday as part of its environmental review of the proposed merger.
 
According to the STB, the merger would mean an increase of 14 trains per day traveling through the Iowa Quad-Cities, increasing from roughly eight trains per day now to more than 22 trains per day by 2027.
 
Should U.S. regulators authorize the merger at the end of 2022, the two companies would work to be fully integrated over the ensuing three years, CP spokesman Andy Cummings said.
 
CP, in a statement, cast the merger as "an economic growth story."
 
Railway officials say the merger would connect customers to new markets and drive economic growth, including the expected creation of about 1,000 rail jobs, including positions based in the Quad-Cities and eastern Iowa.
 
CP, too, claims the merger will lead to the reduction of more than 1.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions within five years because of improved efficiency versus current operations.
 
It also claims the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada line will divert 64,000 long-haul truck shipments to rail annually, eliminating another 1.3 million tons of GHG emissions over the next two decades and saving US$750 million in highway maintenance costs.
 
"This merger is based on creating commercial opportunities and growth for the railway and shippers in local communities," Cummings said.
 
Davenport and Bettendorf city and business leaders contend the merger and anticipated tripling of daily train traffic will lead to substantial disruption to tourism, commerce, enjoyment of the riverfront, and residents' quality of life.
 
"This increased volume will be sent through a single track that is adjacent to critical regional infrastructure and heavily utilized public event spaces. This substantial increase in traffic will result in more frequent traffic delays, more frequent maintenance requirements, an increase in train switching, and increased likelihood of accidental derailment or contamination events," from hazardous material spills," Spiegel wrote to the STB.
 
CP operates a switch yard, with two at-grade crossings, near a regional wastewater treatment facility close to Credit Island that serves more than 6,000 commercial properties and more than 47,400 homes in Scott County.
 
Davenport city officials say it is common for rail cars to block the entrance to the facility for nearly an hour as trains are switched.
 
They worry the merger will only exacerbate the ongoing issue.
 
CP's main line also bisects Iowa American Water's treatment facility on the eastern edge of Davenport and operates a spur line that borders the northern edge of the plant.
 
The private utility is the only provider of clean drinking water for six cities and Scott County.
 
"These facilities must be readily accessible and have protections against possible emergency situations in the event of a train derailment," Spiegel wrote.
 
The probability of which Davenport Mayor Mike Matson fears will increase with the significant increase in train traffic.
 
"We have those concerns today, but you triple the number of trains, you triple the concern," Matson said.
 
Officials, too, worry about noise pollution and access to public parks, the city's minor league baseball stadium, city buildings, and other amenities along the riverfront.
 
Spiegel pointed to River Heritage Park, where two major Mississippi River cruise ships will dock in 2022 and where the city has invested more than a million dollars preparing for the increase in river-fleet traffic.
 
And the city is in the process of creating a US$6 million "regional destination play area" at Main Street Landing.
 
"During 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, this stretch of space held 135 individual events that collectively had an attendance of over 410,000 visitors. The city is deeply concerned that the proposed increased train traffic that occurs within a few feet of many of these events will turn this vibrant, community gathering space into something that is unsafe, less attractive, and frequently inaccessible," Spiegel wrote.
 
Bettendorf City Administrator Decker Ploehn, too, worried about bicyclists and pedestrians safely accessing a planned urban park underneath the newly opened Interstate 74 bridge, including an elevator to the new bridge path.
 
Davenport aldermen, in their letter to the STB, requested CP and KCS be required to cover the cost of all "necessary improvements to mitigate the impacts of this increased rail traffic," including quiet zones and pedestrian overpasses at key locations such as Modern Woodmen Park.
 
Such zones provide an exemption to federal rules requiring trains to sound their horns when approaching at-grade crossings.
 
There are 10 public and three private crossings stretching from Marquette Street to the Village of East Davenport.
 
"With the planned increase in train usage, these noise levels will have a large effect on existing residents along this corridor and could hinder future growth within these districts," Spiegel wrote.
 
Securing quiet zones, though, require upgrading warning devices and additional safety measures at installed crossings, which can cost in excess of US$200,000 per crossing, according to Matson.
 
He said CP officials "seemed somewhat interested in working with us on some of these things, but I'm in the, we'll see mentality."
 
Cummings, in an emailed response, said CP plans to spend more than US$275 million over the next three years to improve rail safety and capacity between Louisiana and the Upper Midwest, including in Iowa.
 
Spiegel, though, noted information provided as part of the STB's public review of the merger does not indicate any planned capital improvements for the region.
 
"We will work hard to be a good neighbor and mitigate potential adverse community impacts, and have already met with city leaders in Davenport and Bettendorf and continue to communicate with them. The merger will be subject to an environmental impact process. CP will work closely with the STB's Office of Environmental Assessment so that these issues are carefully and appropriately analyzed," Cummings wrote.
 
Quad Cities River Bandits owner Dave Heller echoed Spiegel and Matson, stating it is imperative that CP works to assist in ensuring Davenport remains a thriving community with safe, convenient, access to riverfront amenities.
 
"I really believe that this is a problem that CP is creating, and it should be a problem that CP solves," Heller said.
 
Kyle Carter, executive director of the Downtown Davenport Partnership, said the planned merger "expedites priorities we already have," such as quiet zones downtown and pedestrian bridges over the train tracks to the riverfront.
 
"We could come out with a better riverfront as a result of this if we do it right," Carter said, who noted the Quad-Cities has the unfortunate distinction of being a "choke point" to get north and south along the proposed U.S.-Mexico-Canada route.
 
"They don't have many other options to route around us," Carter said.
 
Which Davenport aldermen say also makes it imperative that the STB visit to see firsthand how the proposed merger "will have a disastrous impact on this community."
 
Tom Barton.