By Joe Ragusa
NORMAL – The town of Normal is going to build a temporary at-grade pedestrian crossing at Uptown Station.
Normal is considering an underpass to help Amtrak adjust for high-speed rail service at Uptown Station, but that will take about five years, so Normal City Manager Mark Peterson said an at-grade crossing will have to do for now.
“It’s basically a short-term measure to make sure we can use both platforms without having a bridge or an underpass,” Peterson said.
Peterson said at-grade pedestrian crossings aren’t really used anymore.
“There are legitimate safety concerns,” Peterson said. “We’ll have to make sure that we provide for those safety concerns in the design of this temporary at-grade crossing, which will be designed by (Union Pacific) Railroad, so I’m sure they’ll do everything that is reasonable and possible to make sure that it’s a safe crossing.”
Peterson said he’s confident federal high-speed rail money will cover the cost of the temporary crossing. If not, the town will cover the cost, which Peterson says could be around half-a-million dollars.
The Normal Town Council considered taking bids on a $6.3 million pedestrian overpass in late 2014 but decided against it in favor of studying an underpass.
Peterson said the next step in that process is to hire a design firm to study the project and he hopes to have a selection in place late in the spring or early in the summer.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at joe.ragusa@cumulus.com.
