Number
Of Trains/Impact On Rochester Mn.
-
DM
& E railroad proposes to increase the amount of
train traffic per day from the current 3/day to 37/day.
- There
will be no limit on the number of trains per day
established by the Surface Transportation Board.
Impact
Of 37 Trains On Train Crossings
- Assuming
an 8100’ train (1 ½ mile in length), full closure of a
crossing
will range from 2 ½ minutes @ 45 MPH to 3 ¼ minutes
@ 34 MPH.
The associated time to clear the resulting
congestion would be added to the closure
time and would affect
the crossing and adjacent intersections for a minimum
of 4 to
5 minutes until traffic flow would stabilize again.
- Assuming
a total of 37 trains/day, at 4 minutes of disruption,
the total daily
disruption would be 2 ½ hours, while at 5
minutes it would be just over 3 hrs/day.
- Assuming
trains will be 8100’ in length, there may
be up to 8
crossings closed simultaneously.
For example, 6th
Ave. W, 4th Ave. W, 1st Ave. W, N.
Broadway, 2nd Ave. E,
9th Ave. E, 11th
Ave. E, and 15th Ave. E are all within 8000’ of
each other.
Impact
Of 3 Hr. Closure Of Major Intersections
- Over
90,000 vehicles carrying approximately
120,000 people
cross the railroad tracks in Rochester each day.
- Approximately
15,000 to 20,000 people each day in Rochester
will be
delayed if the number of trains increases to 37 per day.
- There
are 373 daily railroad crossings by ISD 535 buses.
With an
average bus ridership of 50 students/bus,
this would
impact 18,650 students daily.
This does not include
crossings due to field trips or other miscellaneous trips.
-On
a weekday basis, city buses cross the DM&E tracks 189
times.
An estimated 381,763 public transit passengers were
carried
across the DM&E Railroad on these crossings in
1997. - There
are 4,294 ambulance emergency calls in Rochester each
year
of which approximately 1300 are on the opposite
side of the
tracks from the ambulance station.
- A
heart attack victim in Rochester has a good chance of
survival
if defibrillation occurs within 6 minutes. 4 minute
delays for additional
train traffic could reduce the
survival rate for Rochester citizens.
- There
are 90,000 Rochester Police and Sheriff’s calls/year
of
which 31,000 require an emergency response within 5
minutes.
Several thousand of these calls could be delayed
annually
by the proposed increase in DM & E train
traffic.
- Police
and Fire also respond to medical emergencies in Rochester.
Any increase over the current public safety 4 minute
response goal would affect survival rates.
- The
Rochester Fire Department will make 2275 fire and rescue
responses in 1998 and 335 medical emergency responses.
1500
of these will require crossings of the railroad tracks
and
the potential for delays by increased trains.
The Fire
Department response goal is 4 minutes.
- Several
hundred thousand pedestrians crossings
are made of the
railroad tracks each year.
Economic
Impact
- Rochester
is a unique community whose economy is highly
dependent
upon medical visitors and other visitors to the City.
- There
are over 1.5 million national and
international visitors to
Rochester annually.
- There
are over 20,000 medical jobs and over 8,000
hotel and
restaurant jobs in the City of Rochester.
- The
medical / lodging / restaurant employment in the
City of
Rochester accounts for approximately
33% of the total
Olmsted County employment.
- The
Mayo Foundation is a business
with over $2 billion of annual
revenues.
- The
hotel and restaurant business in Rochester
is an approximate
$100 million per year industry.
- A
small decline in medical or other visitors to the community
due to the inconvenience, noise, pollution, traffic
congestion or
decreased quality of life due to 37 coal
trains/day would cost
the area economy multiple millions
of dollars annually.
- There
are 3 elderly living complexes in close proximity
to the
DM&E line, which house over 600 residents.
The Senior Citizens Center is also located near the DM&E
line.
This center provides social and recreational services
for the elderly.
- The
noise level of coal trains would be in the range of 80 to 90
decibels.
A decibel level of over 70 in the City of
Rochester
is considered a nuisance under City ordinances.
- The
noise level of 2000 trucks per hour traveling at 55 MPH
would be equal to an average hourly decibel level of 85.
- The
train noise will lower property
values of adjacent properties.
A federal report discussing
the social costs of freight transportation
suggested there
is a 0.4% decline in property value for each 1 decibel
increase in noise resulting from an increased level of
freight traffic.
If noise levels increase by 25 db, for
example, this
would suggest a 10% decrease in property
values.
- The
total property value (land & buildings) of parcels
within 500 ft of each side
the railroad track is $113,161,200 based on Olmsted County Assessor’s records.
If
a 10% reduction in property value occurs this would be a
loss of over $11.3 million for the affected property-owners.
If
you have concerns regarding the proposed DM&E project, you
are
encouraged to write your elected officials and encourage
them to
express their concerns to members of the Surface
Transportation Board.
You are also encouraged to write directly
to the
Surface Transportation Board with your concerns.
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