The City of Great Falls, in agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, plans to permanently close public access to West Bank Park and the Rivers Edge Trail at the Fourth Street NE rail crossing.
City officials said in a news release this week that the closure has been implemented to ensure public safety due to the possibility of rail expansion into the Calumet Refining area, which will increase rail traffic. The section that will be closed is the railroad crossing between Northwest Pipe Fittings and General Distributing.
Aneesa Coomer reports - watch the video:
Contrary to some rumors, there is no closure of any part of River's Edge Trail or West Bank Park - it simply means that people can no longer access them via this one particular crossing.
Public access to West Bank Park will remain available from Third Street NW (between Cowboys Bar and Tasty Hot Pot).
For longtime park users, the change will be felt immediately.
“We park here about every day. I’ve been using this stretch of trail to park for ten-plus years,” says one visitor, Keith Becker, “I’m really going to miss the access here because it’s actually one of my favorite parts of the trail.”
City leaders say the closure isn’t just about recreation, it’s about infrastructure and safety.
Interim Deputy City Manager Bryan Lockerby explains that the decades-old agreement that allowed access no longer fits today’s industrial needs.
Lockerby says, “This comes down to everything is okay until it isn’t. There was an agreement in the 1960s and 1970s for the city to be able to use that railroad crossing that was there at the time with Burlington Northern. Since that time, everything was all right until Calumet decided they wanted to expand production, which increased the need for more rail service.”
That expansion means new rail spurs and the permanent closure of the existing access road, expected within the next 18 to 24 months. According to Lockerby, the impacts extend well beyond trail users.
He says, “We have a wastewater treatment facility there. Several private vendors use it, the public uses it, Park and Rec uses it, emergency services use it in case there's some kind of an accidental spill response on the river, considering the proximity of Calumet.”
Because Fourth Street Northeast is classified as a city road, Great Falls is responsible for maintaining access. However, BNSF owns the property the crossing sits on. The city’s most likely solution is a controlled access gate at the railroad tracks that would allow emergency vehicles and chemical deliveries through, while blocking everyday traffic.
Lockerby explains, “We’re looking at roughly $2 million for an expense that the city has to come up with, with no other support, nobody willing to step up who should be a partner in this. So we’re faced with that challenge of where do we find that $2 million?”
City officials stress that the park itself will remain open. Visitors will still be able to access West Bank Park from its main entrance along Third Street NW.
Lockerby says, “There’s a price for growth, right? And being part of the city and trying to find a way to encourage that, but also have the means to support it, to support the infrastructure. Nobody in the 1960s and 1970s expected that right of way to be used the way it is now with three rail spurs in, and here we are having to deal with it.”
