ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
There has been a lot of recent work going on regarding the construction of a second overpass in the community, and recently, that project took another step forward.
Last week, the City of Liberal announced it was awarded the Federal Railroad Administration's Railroad Crossing Elimination grant to fund project development and preliminary engineering of a grade-separated rail overpass in Liberal.
As Chief Communications Officer Keeley Moree tells it, the award is the culmination of a lot of work.
“In early 2023, the City of Liberal began looking at options for a second overpass, and it was a more exploratory and looking at concept designs and ideas for what could be feasible,” Moree said. “After getting that information back and looking at the price tag that would be associated with such a project, that's when I – in my first week in this job, actually – began looking into some potential federal funding options that would help with this kind of project. I began a year and a half ago researching different programs and what else was available. In 2023, the program was supposed to open again for applications, but it didn't, so they skipped around funding for a year, and then there were some changes made to the program, so during that time, I was still doing a lot of research and pulling a lot of data to help make a case for bringing a second overpass to help. A big factor is safety and allowing better safety at those crossings and helping decrease the response time for first responders so they could get across the tracks to calls. There are also multiple economic factors and other aspects to consider, which we definitely did. Once we saw the project was coming back out and the program had been revised, I had to take the research I'd done and pull it all together and move it around.”
And the work did not end there, Moree said.
“We did a lot of research and work within that 75-day application window to complete some of the planning phase activities, which included a lot of public engagement, in order to be able to include all of that as a part of our application,” Moree said. “We submitted the application near the end of September, and we found out just last week we'd been awarded this grant funding. From this point on, we're looking to execute all of the necessary documents with the federal government and get everything lined up. I hope, if we're able to start some things this summer, we'll be able to complete all of this next phase of work within two and a half years as far as the development activities.”
Moree said the reaction upon receiving the official word about the grant award was overwhelmingly positive.
“When you work on something like this for such a long time, you get very connected to trying to solve the problem and help the people of the community,” Moree said. “This is something that really became a passion project for me, and I continue to see just how much this is needed, and I'm really happy we're going to be able to make this change for the community. I was overjoyed, and so far, the public's reaction has also been really positive since this is something that's been worked on for so long, and it's great to see this project finally take another step forward into the next phase. This next phase will be dedicated to project development, not the actual construction, which is something that needs to be emphasized. What this grant will do is allow us to get our foot in the door and have some federal funding invested in project development so we can turn around, take all of those development activities, and then apply for a final design and construction grant in the future. As much as some people might not like it, this will be a very long process, and there will definitely need to be patience from everybody.”
Moree said there is much excitement with the project taking another concrete step forward, but the work is nowhere near done yet.
“This is where the hard work begins, and this is where we'll have to pull everything together because there are a lot of hoops to jump through when it comes to federal funding. Like I said, it's going to be a long process, but well worth it in the end,” Moree said. “This grant covers 80 percent of our total project cost, which is slightly more than $2 million, and we were also awarded matching funds from the State of Kansas through the Rebuild Kansas Fund, and that's helping with another 15 percent. When you look at everything, we're getting a $2 million project at 5 percent of the project costs, which is incredible savings for the community. The cost of an overpass bridge, if we were to do it all on our own, would be roughly half of the City of Liberal budget, so this was the most feasible route for us to go, even if it takes some extra time. There will be a number of different bid requests that will go out for all the necessary assessments and other work, and those assessments will include everything from environmental studies to historic/cultural assets to water studies as well as looks at the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act. There will also be consideration taken as far as noise and changes to traffic patterns at the proposed sites and things like that. There are many, many factors that will need to be taken into consideration.”
Another important aspect of the project, Moree said, is the expected increase in safety.
“This grant isn't just for people driving personal vehicles, this is also a route to safety for a lot of people. Only a week after we submitted the grant application, there was an accident at Western Avenue where two pedestrians were killed at that crossing,” Moree said. “I've personally walked the overpass bridge on Country Estates Road, and it is NOT meant for pedestrian traffic, but people use it every day to get to work or school or wherever. We're looking to help create better options for people and safer options for them, so I'm really excited for the people this will be helping. Our city is really disconnected – there are 6,000 residents who live south of the railroad tracks, and 12 percent of households don't have a vehicle. There have also been changes for businesses that have relocated from the north side of town to the south end of town because there are many people who don't cross the railroad tracks unless they absolutely have to because they don't want to deal with the potential hassle.”
Moree added the community engagement is also not done.
“We did community engagement as part of our grant application in order to show the community's interest and commitment, and 90 percent of the people who took that survey said they would be more likely to visit places across the railroad tracks if there were a secondary overpass, so that really opens up a lot of opportunities for people,” Moree said. “We know it can be a detour of two to four miles for people who are driving, so this is something that should really help cut down on the amount of time people have to spend doing that. 86 percent of the people we polled have made some lifestyle changes to adapt to the train situation, including leaving for work/school earlier, not taking lunch breaks during working hours, and we had multiple people tell us they had issues picking up their children on time from daycare. People are definitely affected by this, and I'm looking forward to seeing this project move forward and help so many people. We have not decided a final location yet for this project, so once we get into the project and start doing all those assessments, there will be a lot of information coming out of those, which will help us reach a final decision on the final site. With all of that, we will be seeking public input and engagement. We've come up with concept art and ideas, and we've collected some feedback with all of that, but those are super early drafts that will change as we gather more information. As part of the environmental assessment, we will be seeking more public comment, so there will be more opportunities in terms of that for people in the community to share their thoughts.”
Overall, Moree said, there is a lot to be excited about with the project.
“I would like to emphasize again how we will have pedestrian access built into the overpass bridge, no matter where it goes,” Moree said. “This development phase is all about taking a deeper dive into everything, and that will help us reach a decision we feel will help us move forward on this project. There are a lot of parts involved, and there are a lot of entities we're working with to make this successful.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: For more information about the project, visit https://www.cityofliberal.org/555/Liberal-CARES-Project
