By Superintendent of Streets & Sanitation Jason Blasiola and City Engineer Ryan Sazama
The Department of Public Works has been requesting that the Union Pacific Railroad make repairs to their railroad crossing throughout the City of Sheboygan since March 2017. Railroad crossings are considered railroad right-of-way. It is illegal for the Department of Public Works to perform any maintenance activity with 25 feet of the railroad crossing.
DPW staff developed a working relationship with the local Union Pacific maintenance employee. DPW was able to work with him to fill in potholes around the railroad crossing. Pothole filling helped minimize the rough crossing, but did not fix the problem.
After numerous unanswered requests to Union Pacific to repair several of the Sheboygan railroad crossings, the City of Sheboygan passed Resolution No. 109-19-20 on November 18, 2019. This resolution made a formal complaint to the State of Wisconsin Railroad Commission demanding that Union Pacific make the necessary repairs to the railroad crossings within the City of Sheboygan.
In early January 2020, Union Pacific and the Department of Public Works agreed to work together to repair several of the crossings without going through the formal complaint process with the State of Wisconsin Railroad Commission. So far this spring, the repairs for crossings at Broadway Avenue, Najacht Road, Martin Avenue, Calumet Avenue, and Wildwood Avenue have been completed. Repairs for the crossings at Indiana Avenue, S. 12th Street, New Jersey Avenue, and S. Taylor Drive are set to be complete by mid-September 2020. Click HERE to view a map of these projects.
The Department of Public Works will be providing traffic control and will replace the asphalt or concrete leading up to the crossing. Additionally, DPW will be sharing in the cost of some of the other construction materials needed to repair these crossings; DPW has agreed to contribute $40,000 toward material costs.
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- Broadway Avenue
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- Calumet Drive
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- Wildwood Avenue
(Click a photo above to enlarge.)