Muscatine Iowa USA - After the finalization of the merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City railroads, the City of Muscatine continues to work on the project to mitigate the potential impact of the promised increase in train traffic through the city.
 
During its Thursday city council meeting, Muscatine officials received an update on the merger.
 
City administrator Carol Webb gave a report to the council, saying that some of the things the city plans to do include closing the Day Street crossing and evaluating the southend quiet zone.
 
As train traffic increases, she said, the city would continue to evaluate needs.
 
"CP will be monitored for their measures and will have to report issues. I need to tell the community if they see long train blockages to report them because they are part of monitoring the compliance and the conditions they agreed to," Webb said.
 
In October, 2021, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City filed an application with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to merge.
 
The merger was finalized in December 2021 and final approval was given in March.
 
The merger was implemented in April.
 
The new railway will be the first to link Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
 
The merger was subject to an environmental review process.
 
An impact study had to be done on each community the merger would impact to determine any possible environmental impact as well as any social impact, such as noise.
 
Muscatine submitted a list of concerns.
 
The railway reached out to the city, saying it would work with the city to address the concerns.
 
It was determined other than noise, most of the impacts to Muscatine would be negligible.
 
Since the study, the railway has agreed to voluntary community agreements, emergency response training, not blocking crossings for more than 10 minutes, and maintaining quiet zones.
 
The city also received US$3 million from the railway, half of which was to be used for grant matches to construct a grade separated crossing at Dick Drake Way.
 
In October 2022 the city applied for a grant to aid in designing the area.
 
The grant was denied.
 
Webb said the money had been set aside in a separate fund and none of it has been used.
 
Several council members were concerned if the city waited to determine impact, the costs of mitigating the impact would go up.
 
The council instructed staff to investigate the cost of creating a quiet zone.
 
David Hotle.