A real-estate transfer document obtained by the newspaper shows that the building was acquired by Union Pacific for $300,000.
Calli Hite, director of corporate communications for Union Pacific, says the purchase is part of the planning stage for a new railroad bridge over the Mississippi River.
“The property was purchased as part of preparations and planning in support of the possible construction of a new rail bridge over the Mississippi River, which is currently in the initial steps of the design and permitting process,” Hite tells the Herald.
In 2013, the railroad considered building a $400 million clear span bridge to replace the swing span bridge built in 1909. According to a report from the Iowa Department of Transportation in 2009, the existing bridge has been designated by the United States Coast Guard as a hazard to navigate.
Hite says that bridge was related to an earlier project, but notes there are no time line or cost projections due to where the railroad stands with the project.
The railroad is working on the design and permitting processes to evaluate what it will take to build a new bridge.
The Clinton depot and the nearby railroad bridge are former Chicago & North Western structures.
Seems like a lot of money for a structure that hasn’t had any meaningful repurposing in years. Inadequate parking and traffic flow patterns (people deciding on what lane to get into and jockeying for pole position on a curved major arterial) on the street out front haven’t helped. Hopefully it will get moved. The TIGER grant application might still be floating around on the internet. Some of the numbers seem fanciful on how the project is justified. It has my approval just because it’s an important transcon route.
As the article states, the Coast Guard considers the current swing bridge a navigation hazard. The USCG has been on the warpath- no pun intended- against swing bridges recently. Either UP replaces the whole structure with a clear span bridge or, like BNSF did with its Mississippi river bridge at Burlington, IA, replace the swing span with a lift bridge. Considering the age of the structure and the volume of trains across it, UP would be wise to go with the former.
If I recall correctly, UP has already bought land west of Clinton, near a little hamlet named Low Moor, for a new yard to replace Clinton yard, so that Clinton yard could be used to be the grade necessary to climb up to the new bridge.
Does this mean UP will tear the building down because it is in the way of the new bridge?
If they go over the CP (ex Milwaukee), that could help CP get through town faster. I would think CP might sit for quite a while before getting a chance to cross.
I have wondered for years how long the Clinton swing bridge would last. I hung out in the bridge control house up above the tracks and in the now-demolished Second Street interlocking tower nearby on Saturdays when I was in high school in the 1970s, so they are/were significant places to me. It’s a wonder the bridge has lasted this long–there were some mechanical problems with it even then, plus the operational challenge of having to align it manually (no positive stop) before locking it in place to carry rail traffic when closing it. As I recall, during the day the operator could see the bridge structure well enough to line up the bridge with the approach when closing. At night there was a light bulb on the Illinois approach that the operator would sight through the trusswork for guidance in lining up the bridge for closure.
Building a clear-span bridge here would require a massive amount of grading. The approach would have to clear the former Milwaukee Road line that parallels the river as well as being high enough to clear barge traffic at high water on the river.
The Clinton depot is a massive two story brick building so it seems unlikely it would be a good candidate for being moved to a new location. It hasn’t been used as a passenger station for nearly 50 years. Before the mid 1950s this depot was a very busy place.
I assume the read between the lines is that UP bought it to tear it down??? Shame to lose another old depot if thats the case. Perhaps they can just relocate it.
I think the sole purpose of buying the building and the underlying land is to demolish it and use that area to build the approach to the new bridge. Going to the north of the existing right-of-way will ease the curvature onto the new bridge.