La Crosse Residents, Officials Wary Of Proposed Rail Expansion

BNSF Rail Company Wants To Add A Second Track To Run Four Miles Through City

By
A BNSF train crosses the La Crosse Rail Bridge in November. Photo: Slyfry91 (CC-BY-SA)

Residents and city officials in La Crosse are concerned about a BNSF Railway Company plan to expand a railway track that runs through the city.

La Crosse City Council member Bob Seaquist lives a couple hundred feet from the railroad tracks. He said in recent years, traffic has definitely increased: “I felt at least two or three trains today, and I haven’t been home much this morning.”

Now, BNSF wants to add a second track to run through four miles of the city. The company has been meeting with local and state officials to talk about the project. The tracks would affect a golf course and a residential neighborhood.

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

A company spokeswoman said the expansion will help trains run more efficiently through the area and noted that traffic will not double.

Seaquist thinks the expansion will bring more train traffic through La Crosse, which he said is a safety issue: He said more trains increases the odds of a derailment.

“What happens when there’s a fire or an ambulance call on the east side of the tracks, and they can’t get a across because of all of this traffic?” he said.

Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner Jeff Plale said the planned upgrades in La Crosse are not unique. Railway companies are expanding and reviving dormant lines across the state. He said there are more trains that are heavier, longer, and faster. Plale says a lot of this is driven by shipment of frac sand and crude oil.

“We’re kind of at an epicenter because of our proximity to Chicago, our abundance of sand, and getting the crude to the refineries out east,” said Plale.

Plale says intermodal transportation is also up, meaning more containers are coming off of ships out west and making their way through Wisconsin.