Only a few states, such as Oklahoma, have taken an active role to ensure that their county roads and highways stay intact.  And you thought this was a story about railroads right?  Well, it is unfortunately a story about counties and rural governments that are waking up to huge maintenance bill for road and bridge repairs.  In fact, some counties in Kansas have had to go to the next step and embargo county roads from trucks.  

The real horror to these local and county entities may be in a future lawsuit that will result when a bus, maybe with your kids or mine, crashes into a ravine due to poor maintenance.  And again, you are asking yourself, isn't this a website dedicated to rail news?  What does this have to with railroads?

Well with abandonment of railroads, especially where there is either heavy industry or agrarian needs, trucks take over.   Please review and consider the following excerpts from none other than the Federal Highway Administration.   These are facts and figures put together by the FHWA to outline why there needs to be more highway funds (go figure ).  I think it is an excellent reason why more funds should be used to preserve rail lines, or at worst - the right-of-ways.

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From FHWA
One of the major external factors that changed local highway demands was the widespread introduction of unit train rail in the Great Plains in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Terminal and subterminal elevators were constructed on railroad mainlines. These facilities drew grain from greater distances; both from farms and smaller elevators. Increasing concentration within the elevator industry has affected local truck traffic patterns.

Branch-line abandonment is another railroad system change that has altered local highway demands. A substantial portion of the railroad system has disappeared from the Great Plains and Midwest since 1965. The percentage reductions in state railroad miles have been computed from data contained in AAR fact books. Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota have been impacted the most. Over 40% of the railroad networks of each state have disappeared since 1965. More than a third of the rail networks in Missouri, Montana and Nebraska also have disappeared. After abandonment, elevators must truck grains to markets, or mass-ship grains to rail stations located on mainlines.

Losses in Railroad Service from 1965 to 1995

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When analyzing the effects of traffic diversion, it is first necessary to determine how many trucks are required to haul the capacity of a rail car. Most grain moves in two rail car types: a 100-ton covered hopper car (with a gross weight of 263,000lbs) and a 286,000-pound covered hopper car which can typically accommodate 111 tons of wheat.

This graph shows the number of equivalent trucks of each type needed to transport 100 tons of wheat.

In the 1997 Truck Size and Weight Study, Draft Report, FHWA estimated marginal cost indexes for combination trucks operating on several classes of rural highways.

Also, note that the user fees paid by trucks cover only 90 percent of the damage cost those trucks impose on the Federal Highway System. The Federal-Aid Highway System is only 25 percent of the highway and road system. Most transportation economists believe that trucks pay only 60 to 67 percent of the costs they impose upon the entire road system.

The marginal pavement cost of the combination truck is about four times greater on a minor rural arterial highway than on a rural interstate. The marginal pavement cost of the combination truck is about 13.5 times greater on a major rural collector highway than on a rural interstate. Furthermore, the marginal pavement cost of the combination truck is about 21 times greater on a minor rural collector highway than on a rural interstate.

Changes in agricultural transportation patterns will continue to impact the local highway system in the 21^st century and will focus more attention on the problems and issues associated with this component of the agricultural transportation infrastructure. Although local highway issues are sometimes obscured by high-profile transportation problems, a cost effective rural road system is still a prerequisite for the efficient movement of agricultural commodities from farms to elevators and processing plants.

From:
Federal Highway Administration Highway cost Allocation Study of 1997
Truck Size and Weight Study, Draft Report, FHWA
Denver Tolliver 7/27/98 - NDSU UGPTI

So the next time that you think you shouldn't get involved in saving a rail line, think again! - DepotNews

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