The intersection of Farm-to-Market 78 and Country Lane in Cibolo sees a lot of traffic passing through until the train comes.
Jennifer Catlett, the property manager of Val’s Mobile Home Park and the storage unit facility near the tracks, said it is a daily event for drivers to sit and wait on Country Lane, and at times for up to 20 minutes.
“The traffic gets backed up,” Catlett said. “We’ve got school buses that come here, so anytime the train comes by, or sometimes it stops on the tracks for a long time, everybody’s having to reroute and it backs traffic up in here.”
She said the emergency vehicles are also included in the backup line.
Cibolo’s city manager Wayne Reed said relief at this specific intersection is coming in the form of a bridge. He said the city applied for a $68 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation to help fund the project.
Reed said the money comes from three organizations, including $55M from the Federal Railroad Administration, $6.5M from the TxDOT and $6.5M from the City of Cibolo.
Reed also said Union Pacific Railroad signed a letter of support to offer a financial contribution to the project.
“As a municipality, we did not have the funds to do that alone,” Reed said.
Reed laid out that the city’s plan is to build a bridge over the train tracks and vehicle traffic will travel on the bridge.
A few people who drive on Country Lane or live and work close to the tracks said it sounds like an idea they can get on board with.
Nayeli Esquilin said, “It takes maybe 20 minutes out of my day trying to get to work, and it’s kind of annoying. I think it’ll be better, beneficial for sure to help alleviate the traffic.”
Michelle Fiedler is not convinced the new railroad crossing project will make traveling in the area easier.
“I just think it’s gonna cause more traffic while they’re building it,” Fiedler said. “It always takes forever to build things, and I just think that it’s a waste of money.”
City officials hope all drivers will see the benefit of the new railroad crossing project once completed.
Now that the money for the project has been secured, Reed said the project now moves into planning and design. He said the bridge is projected to be built within the next five years.
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