Railroad, UTA plan to fix Davis culverts

CENTERVILLE — Union Pacific Railroad and the Utah Transit Authority have tentatively agreed to replace damaged culverts that channel runoff from I-15 to the Great Salt Lake.

Nine of 22 culverts are of primary concern, and all but one of those are involved in the agreement, Centerville city manager Steve Thacker said.

The agreement was reached following a strongly worded request from Centerville Mayor Michael Deamer.

"We're feeling pretty good about where we've come on this matter," Thacker said.

Representatives from the city, UTA and Union Pacific have met for about a year, in advance of UTA's planned construction of a commuter rail system between Salt Lake City and Weber County.

Because the commuter rail tracks will run parallel to Union Pacific's tracks, UTA originally agreed to extend the culverts to cover both sets of rails.

But problems could arise due to the age of the culverts and a lack of maintenance. Clogged or collapsed culverts block water flow and could result in the flooding of low residential areas of the city or cause a pooling of water on I-15.

UTA and Union Pacific officials understand the problem. UTA manager of commuter rail construction Steve Meyer met with Centerville representatives Friday. They discussed the problem areas that would have to be fixed or replaced and who would take responsibility for those repairs.

In the tentative agreement, UTA and Davis County will share the expense of replacing eight of the culverts. Union Pacific will repair one.

In Tuesday's City Council meeting, Thacker said that while Union Pacific and UTA will replace the culverts, Centerville will pay to have each one upgraded.

Thacker said the remaining culvert, Dual Creek crossing, is still the subject of negotiations. A decision on responsibility for that culvert will have to be made by the time the City Council votes on the project, he said.

Originally, Deamer thought a lawsuit might be necessary for progress to occur, but now Meyer doesn't see that happening.

"I believe we have a pretty good agreement on what needs to be done," Meyer said. Though Deamer said he wanted the problem fixed by June, Thacker calls the tentative plan "great progress."

---

E-mail: nandrews@desnews.com