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Residents to use history to save tracks
By By:Susan Dage-Ruby
Castle Rock has found out it is possible to move the railroad tracks out of downtown, but some of the residents in town don't want that to happen.
"The railroad is eligible to be declared a historic site," said Starr Oberlin, a member of the Castle Rock Historical Society. "If the town proceeds with plans to move the tracks, the historical society will try to have it declared as a national historic site."
The tracks have been in place for 130 years, Oberlin said.
"It has run on the same track, with the same rights of way and maintained the integrity of its design," Oberlin said.
Aside from the historic aspect of the tracks, Oberlin said she objects to the possibility of commercial development moving into the area where the tracks are and crowding out the historic houses of the Craig and Gould area.
Craig and Gould was the first neighborhood added to the town in the 1890s. From then until now, the tracks have acted as a buffer between downtown and the residential neighborhood, Oberlin said.
"We like what we have, why should we change?" Oberlin said.
At the second of three meetings Monday, the town heard from residents of The Meadows and Red Hawk Ridge, some of whom also don't want the addition of the Union Pacific tracks added to the Burlington Northern tracks they already have.
Some feared that the addition of a second set of tracks would reduce property values and increase noise.
But Stan Brown, director of public works, Herb Teets, Castle Rock mayor, and councilmen Jay Richards and Bill Shaneyfelt, told residents the feasibility study was just the beginning.
"[Moving the tracks] is not a done deal," Teets said at the meeting. "We responded to the direction from the master plan and the town's Vision to look into whether the railroad can be moved. The study said it can, but now we are looking to the community to see if it should."
In the late 1990s the town asked for community response to its vision of the future before updating the master plan. Public response at the time indicated an interest in moving the railroad tracks, hence the feasibility study that was completed in December 2000 by HDR Engineering.
The study, which was more than $170,000, showed that moving the tracks was possible, but would require federal, state and local funding to afford the $64 million needed to move the tracks to run parallel with the tracks on the west side of town from Sedalia to Larkspur.
"Unless we know we have major funding from the federal government, it isn't going to happen," Brown told those who attended the meeting Monday night. "We won't get major federal funding if the community doesn't support the plan. We are out here to see where the community stands on this issue."
Some of those in attendance advocated the move for safety reasons. Richards took the residents to task for not keeping abreast of the issue.
"It bothers me when people don't keep up on events, and then come to meeting like this with preconceived ideas," Richards said.
The final railroad relocation information meeting is at 6 p.m., today, at the Castle Rock Town Hall, 100 Wilcox St. For more information call Susan Casey, citizen outreach coordinator at (303) 660-1365.
"The railroad is eligible to be declared a historic site," said Starr Oberlin, a member of the Castle Rock Historical Society. "If the town proceeds with plans to move the tracks, the historical society will try to have it declared as a national historic site."
The tracks have been in place for 130 years, Oberlin said.
"It has run on the same track, with the same rights of way and maintained the integrity of its design," Oberlin said.
Aside from the historic aspect of the tracks, Oberlin said she objects to the possibility of commercial development moving into the area where the tracks are and crowding out the historic houses of the Craig and Gould area.
Craig and Gould was the first neighborhood added to the town in the 1890s. From then until now, the tracks have acted as a buffer between downtown and the residential neighborhood, Oberlin said.
"We like what we have, why should we change?" Oberlin said.
At the second of three meetings Monday, the town heard from residents of The Meadows and Red Hawk Ridge, some of whom also don't want the addition of the Union Pacific tracks added to the Burlington Northern tracks they already have.
Some feared that the addition of a second set of tracks would reduce property values and increase noise.
But Stan Brown, director of public works, Herb Teets, Castle Rock mayor, and councilmen Jay Richards and Bill Shaneyfelt, told residents the feasibility study was just the beginning.
"[Moving the tracks] is not a done deal," Teets said at the meeting. "We responded to the direction from the master plan and the town's Vision to look into whether the railroad can be moved. The study said it can, but now we are looking to the community to see if it should."
In the late 1990s the town asked for community response to its vision of the future before updating the master plan. Public response at the time indicated an interest in moving the railroad tracks, hence the feasibility study that was completed in December 2000 by HDR Engineering.
The study, which was more than $170,000, showed that moving the tracks was possible, but would require federal, state and local funding to afford the $64 million needed to move the tracks to run parallel with the tracks on the west side of town from Sedalia to Larkspur.
"Unless we know we have major funding from the federal government, it isn't going to happen," Brown told those who attended the meeting Monday night. "We won't get major federal funding if the community doesn't support the plan. We are out here to see where the community stands on this issue."
Some of those in attendance advocated the move for safety reasons. Richards took the residents to task for not keeping abreast of the issue.
"It bothers me when people don't keep up on events, and then come to meeting like this with preconceived ideas," Richards said.
The final railroad relocation information meeting is at 6 p.m., today, at the Castle Rock Town Hall, 100 Wilcox St. For more information call Susan Casey, citizen outreach coordinator at (303) 660-1365.
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