Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study Final Report – June 2013 Rail Division Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study prepared by TranSystems Corporation In association with URS Corporation RJRivera Associates Inc. for The Texas Department of Transportation Rail Division FINAL Report June 2013 Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study FINAL Report – June 2013 Table of Contents Executive Summary 1.0 Background and Context Study Area ........................................................................................................... 1-1 Project Description ............................................................................................. 1-5 Review of Previous Reports ............................................................................... 1-7 2.0 Existing Conditions Socioeconomic and Environmental Resources ................................................ 2-1 Inventory of Existing Rail Systems .................................................................... 2-8 Current Railroad Operations ........................................................................... 2-21 The Rail Traffic Control (RTC) Model ............................................................ 2-34 3.0 Projected Conditions Rail Forecasts ...................................................................................................... 3-1 Developing Options ............................................................................................ 3-5 Alternatives Considered .................................................................................. 3-13 4.0 Evaluation of Alternatives Evaluation Measures ........................................................................................... 4-3 Summary of Alternatives ................................................................................. 4-12 References Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study FINAL Report – June 2013 List of Figures 1.1 Beaumont, Texas ........................................................................................................... 1-2 1.2 Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study Area ................................................................ 1-3 1.3 Port of Beaumont Master Plan ..................................................................................... 1-4 1.4 South East Texas Regional Planning Commission Area .......................................... 1-11 2.1 2010 Households by Block ............................................................................................. 2-2 2.2 2010 Low-Moderate Income Population by Block Group .......................................... 2-2 2.3 2010 Race: Percent Non-Caucasian By Block.............................................................. 2-3 2.4 Wetlands and Floodplains ............................................................................................. 2-5 2.5 Historic Resources ......................................................................................................... 2-7 2.6 Community Resources .................................................................................................. 2-7 2.7 Primary Rail Corridors – Contiguous United States .................................................. 2-8 2.8 Rail Map of Southern Texas .......................................................................................... 2-9 2.9 Sheet Index Map of Existing Conditions in Appendix ............................................... 2-10 2.10 Kansas City Southern Rail Map ................................................................................... 2-11 2.11 Union Pacific Railroad National Map ......................................................................... 2-12 2.12 Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (Gulf Operating Division) ................................ 2-14 2.13 Port of Beaumont Master Plan (Orange County) ..................................................... 2-16 2.14 Amtrak Passenger Rail Lines National....................................................................... 2-17 2.15 Amtrak Limited Route ................................................................................................ 2-17 2.16 Key At-grade Crossing Locations ............................................................................... 2-19 2.17 Land Use Within Study Area ...................................................................................... 2-20 2.18 Industrial Land Use in Beaumont Region .................................................................. 2-21 2.19 Daily Train Volumes Beaumont Area ........................................................................ 2-22 2.20 Daily Train Volumes – National .................................................................................. 2-22 2.21 Sample of Neches River Rail Crossings ...................................................................... 2-23 2.22 Freight Density - Annual Rail Tonnage - Texas ......................................................... 2-24 2.2 3 Freight Density - Annual Rail Tonnage – Texas East Region ................................... 2-25 2.24 Current Level of Service - National ........................................................................... 2-26 2.25 Rail Yards in Beaumont Region .................................................................................. 2-27 2.26a Port of Beaumont Interchange Yard .......................................................................... 2-28 2.26b Port of Beaumont Newport Yard ............................................................................... 2-28 2.26c Port of Beaumont Dreyfus Yard ................................................................................. 2-28 2.27a KCS – Chaison Yard ..................................................................................................... 2-30 2.27b KCS – Vidor Siding ....................................................................................................... 2-30 2.28a UPRR South Yard ......................................................................................................... 2-32 2.28b UPRR East Yard ........................................................................................................... 2-32 2.28c UPRR Beaumont Yard ................................................................................................. 2-32 2.29 BNSF Beaumont Yard ................................................................................................. 2-33 2.30 Rail Traffic Control (RTC) Neches River “Line” Schematic ................................... 2-34 Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study FINAL Report – June 2013 List of Figures (continued) 3.1 Future Daily Train Volumes – National ....................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Gulf Coast High Speed Rail ........................................................................................... 3-3 3.3 Future Level of Service – National .............................................................................. 3-4 3.4 Conceptual High-Level Profile ...................................................................................... 3-6 3.5 Stationary Bridge General Plan and Elevation ............................................................ 3-9 3.6 Stationary Bridge Typical Section ................................................................................ 3-9 3.7 Lift Bridge General Plan and Elevation ...................................................................... 3-11 3.8 Lift Bridge Typical Section .......................................................................................... 3-12 3.9 Sheet Index Map of Alternatives Evaluated in Appendix ......................................... 3-15 3.10 Roadway Circulation Concept connecting Port of Beaumont Jefferson and Orange Counties ........... 3-18 3.11a Concepts Considered ................................................................................................... 3-21 3.11b Concepts to be Evaluated ............................................................................................ 3-21 4.1 Existing Alignment Evaluated (New lift bridge adjacent to existing) ............................. 4-1 4.2a New Alignment Evaluated (IH-10 Fixed bridge) ............................................................ 4-2 4.2b New Alignment Evaluated (Pine Street Lift bridge) ...................................................... 4-2 4.3 Crossing Corridors – Key at-grade crossings evaluated for grade separation ......... 4-5 Neches River Bridge Feasibility Study FINAL Report – June 2013 List of Tables 2.1 Major Employers, City of Beaumont, Texas ................................................................ 2-4 2.2 RTC Model Base Case – Type of Trains ..................................................................... 2-35 2.3 RTC Freight Train Performance - Base Case ........................................................... 2-36 3.1 Forecast of Weekly Train Traffic ................................................................................. 3-2 3.2 Port of Beaumont – Forecast of Annual Rail Cars and Tonnage Handled ............... 3-2 3.3 RTC Freight Train Performance – Projected “no-build”........................................... 3-4 3.4 Vertical Clearances along Neches River ...................................................................... 3-5 4.1 RTC Freight Train Performance - Alternatives with 2035 projected volumes ...... 4-3 4.2 Highway and Railroad Crossing Evaluations ...............................................................