Modesto & Empire Traction to replace railroad tracks

About a fifth of a mile of a street near downtown is slated to be closed for several weekends over several weeks so Modesto & Empire Traction Co. can replace its railroad tracks and the city can relocate water and sewer lines and install what are called rock wells, which collect stormwater.

The roughly $1 million project will take place along B Street between Ninth and 12th streets. Work is expected to start Oct. 16 and take seven weekends. The plan is to close that stretch of B Street for 36 hours from Friday evening to Sunday morning. The M&ET is using this work schedule so it does not interfere with its normal railroad operations.

The work is starting in mid-October after the season ends for nearby tomato cannery Stanislaus Food Products.

The M&ET is owned by the Beard Land & Investment Co. and is the short-line railroad that serves the Beard Industrial District and links it with the Union Pacific Railroad in downtown Modesto and the BNSF Railway in Empire. The district is the Modesto area’s largest industrial park and home to such major food processing companies as Del Monte, Frito-Lay, Nestlé and Seneca and employs thousands of workers.

Beard Land & Investment Co. CEO and President Ron Jackson said the B Street project is part of roughly $10 million in improvements Beard plans over the next couple of years to its railroad. He said Beard brought in consultants with high-tech tools to check the railroad.

Jackson said the tracks are safe but very busy. He said the railroad had a record year in 2014 and is on the same pace for 2015. He said that is in large part because of an increase in trains hauling grain, which ends up as feed for cows at area dairies. “We’ve been taking a proactive approach at the entire railroad because of growth,” Jackson said.

Modesto Utilities Director Larry Parlin said the city will be relocating sewer and water lines and making other infrastructure improvements. He said this work is expected to cost the city about $100,000. He said this is work the city needs to do because the water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure does not meet current city standards and is being done now because of the railroad project.

This story was originally published September 20, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Modesto & Empire Traction to replace railroad tracks."