People in south Lincoln might be holding their heads on Friday, and it won't be because they did too much reveling on New Year's Eve.
Beginning sometime on Jan. 1 — no one can say for sure when — coal trains will rumble down the tracks adjacent to Nebraska 2 that have largely remained silent for a generation.
A loaded 140-car BNSF train stretching 1½ miles will head east, bound for the Omaha Public Power District's plant near Nebraska City. Each day, an empty westbound train will return.Â
In bed at 7 a.m.? The train's bellowing horn might wake you up. On the road? You could be stopped for 4, 5, 6 or even 7 minutes at one of 11 crossings stretching from near the Nebraska State Penitentiary to the village of Cheney.
And Friday is a holiday. Wait until a regular workday, with school back in session, and an ill-timed train that city officials, based on available traffic data, say could halt drivers in over 1,000 cars across the city during the evening commute.
City Councilwoman Jane Raybould, who represents southwest Lincoln, has read the traffic study and heard the test train whistles.Â
"It’s a rude awakening," she said.
Local government officials cannot dictate when trains run, so city officials have focused on the traffic flow they can control and getting the word out about what's comin' round the bend.
Roger Figard, executive director of the county-city Railroad Transportation Safety District, said BNSF and OPPD told city leaders that they hoped to run trains through south Lincoln outside of morning and afternoon rush hours.Â
But freight trains don't follow published schedules.Â
"With rail service resuming, it is critical for motorists to remember trains can run at any time and in any direction,"Â BNSF spokeswoman Amy Casas said.
Ever since BNSF reached the deal to deliver coal to the Nebraska City plant, work has focused on returning the Arbor Line to life.
Growth has pushed more and more Lincoln residents south of the tracks since trains last ran regularly along the route. And, until the South Beltway opens, traffic will remain heavy on Nebraska 2, providing a complicating factor even though the rail line and highway never intersect.
A 50-page traffic analysis details the number of cars likely to be stopped at unique crossings at different points in the day — 372 cars alone at 56th and Old Cheney if a train has the gates down for 5 minutes at 5:15 p.m. But it also points out where all those stopped cars are likely to wait.
In many cases, especially during the afternoon commute, they'll back up from rail crossings to highway intersections, filling turn lanes and — in a worst-case scenario — overflowing into traffic lanes where cars and unsuspecting 18-wheelers could be traveling at the 45-mph speed limit.
Those safety concerns have the attention of local officials, who while unable to control the tracks can tweak the timing of traffic signals at nearby intersections.
When a train nears, all intersection traffic lights will turn red except for the traffic departing the track area, Lincoln Transportation and Utilities spokeswoman Erika Hill said. Once the gates are down, signal timing will change again so traffic not affected by the train can keep moving.
After the train passes, northbound drivers will receive the first green light to help clear traffic as quickly as possible before the traffic signal returns to standard operation, Hill said.
Traffic engineers will monitor movements at and around rail crossings to see what, if anything, could be adjusted.Â
They'll also be monitoring the patience of drivers waiting as trains roll through at 25-30 mph. As you would expect, the worst traffic backups are expected if trains come through between 7:15-8:15 a.m. or 3-6 p.m. on weekdays.
"People in south Lincoln aren’t used to waiting for trains," said City Councilman Richard Meginnis, who represents southeast Lincoln.
Even before the first train, Meginnis saw bottlenecked drivers making illegal turns and driving erratically near the 56th Street and Old Cheney Road crossing when crews were working on track improvements earlier this year.
Impatient drivers sometimes make stupid decisions, and the consequences of maneuvering around crossing arms or trying to beat a train can have deadly consequences, Raybould said.Â
That's why, in addition to muffling the train horns, she favors implementing a quiet zone along the corridor. Getting federal authorization to silence trains requires installation of more stringent barriers that make illegal crossings harder for drivers.Â
A quiet zone designation along the Arbor Line would likely cost millions of dollars. But with the tracks activated, she said, there's the possibility that traffic may increase beyond two trains a day.