Citizens meet about high speed rail in Caroline

Nancy Long is the Caroline County Supervisor for the Port Royal District, but at her June 28 Community Meeting at the Upper Caroline Fire Department in Woodford a large portion of the many citizens who crowded into the room were from Spotsylvania County, and even Hanover County was represented.

The big draw was a chance to hear guest speaker Paul Agnello, Chief of Transportation/FAMPO Administrator for the George Washington Regional Commission, discuss the aspects of the possible high-speed railroad bypass around the eastern side of Fredericksburg.

An environmental impact study (EIS) examining the possibility is currently underway and the route includes property in the western edge of Caroline County.

Agnello said the state has dismissed the idea of a western bypass around the city.

While the target date for the rail line is 2025, some attendees feared that even the study was devaluing their property, and Agnello said the necessary funding could take longer than that to be put into place.

“I’m not going to do anything but normal maintenance to my house,” said Sherry Sharrow of Spotsylvania. “It puts your life on hold, the mental anguish over what your future is going to be.”

Many complained that saving a few minutes of travel time between Richmond and D. C. were not worth all the government expense and the trouble for people living in the area.

The maximum rail speed would only increase from the current 70 mph to 90 mph. However, officials say the changes could significantly improve the route in additional ways. With the system as crowded as it is now, trains often have to wait for each other and passengers can be left waiting behind CSX trains that have stopped to change crews.

With no stops in Fredericksburg the general consensus was that the bypass would do nothing for people in this area.

Agnello said railroad crossings would have to be eliminated and overpasses built.

“It’s a lot easier to build a road overpass than a railroad bridge,” he said.

Long said that people in her district who are opposed to the bypass into Caroline should talk to friends and relatives in other parts of the county to create a larger base of opposition.

“We need to make sure that everyone knows this is here,” she said.

Long also pointed out that it is a stronger position to suggest an alternative than to simply be against it, and she reminded everyone that historic resources are a part of the study.

Joanne O’Quinn of Woodford said, “We need to find a rare bird habitat in the proposed area.”

The initial draft of the environmental impact study is scheduled to be completed in late fall 2016. Maps of the proposed line are conceptual and subject to change as information is gathered and analyzed. After the study is made available for public view there will be a 45-day comment period and a series of public hearings.

Emily Stock, Manager of Rail Planning, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation said that DRPT is studying the No Build alternative in the Fredericksburg area plus three options:

1. Third main track through Fredericksburg
2. Two-tract bypass
3. Minor Improvements, But No Additional Track.

To see tentative maps and other information, log on to dc2rvrail.com