What can be done about train delays on 21st Street? Wichita council wants to find out

Wichita will seek a $1 million grant to study possible solutions for lengthy train delays that affect the 21st Street North corridor between Broadway and I-135.

The corridor is criss-crossed by eight railroad tracks that see an average of 75 train movements a day, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. For years, commuters have complained about delays that routinely halt traffic for as long as 90 minutes.

Federal funding for the study would come from a grant program that aims to address historic disparities created by transportation infrastructure. The Wichita City Council approved the grant application Tuesday.

The train-plagued corridor separates the North End to the west, home to the predominantly Hispanic El Pueblo and Midtown neighborhoods, and the Northeast Millair and Power neighborhoods to the east, where roughly 25% of the city’s Black residents live.

“Due to the considerable number of train movements, and the unknown amount of time that a train will be stopped over the tracks, many Wichitans and the residents of the adjacent neighborhoods choose to avoid the area,” the grant proposal states. “This creates a barrier to economic development and poses difficulties in accessing medical facilities, jobs, childcare, places of worship, grocery stores and more.”

Most of northeast Wichita is classified as a food desert, a low-income area a mile or more from the nearest full-service grocery store. For these residents, grocery shopping in the North End would be a convenient solution if not for the train tracks.

Emergency services are also affected by the delays, with ambulances and fire trucks often forced to find detours or let vital minutes pass sitting at railroad crossings.

Potential solutions could prove costly. Elevating train tracks over busy downtown streets has saved Wichita commuters an estimated 2 million hours of travel time annually since 2009. That project cost the city $150 million.

A 2006 study by city engineers determined that diverting 21st Street and building a bridge over several Union Pacific tracks between Broadway and I-135 would cost somewhere between $27 million and $29 million, and wouldn’t address BNSF Railway tracks at 21st and Broadway. A city engineer told The Eagle last year that the project would now cost at least double that estimate.

21st Street North’s industrial usage over time, supported by railroads and the interstate, has also negatively affected environmental and health outcomes in the adjacent communities, the city found.

“For decades, the area was home to meat packing plants, grain elevators, grain mills, oil refineries, and other industrial uses,” the proposal states. “While some of these uses have gone by the wayside, the environmental effects can still be felt.

“Not only does the area have to deal with the sounds of dozens of trains rolling through every day, the sounds of horns at all hours of night and day, and the stench of industrial processing, but much of the area is a brownfield — contaminated by past refinery uses.”

Portions of the North End and northeast Wichita score in the 80th percentile or higher for ozone exposure, air toxics cancer risk, lead paint exposure, superfund proximity, hazardous waste proximity and wastewater discharge.

“While the city grew, more affluent White residents were able to move away from the industrial uses in the core of the city to the suburbs, ensuring a life free from some of the negative byproducts of the city’s economic engine,” the application states. “The Black and Brown communities have had to bear this burden of inequitable environmental pollution in the decades since.”

Union Pacific and BNSF Railway have both agreed to cooperate with the city as it explores possible solutions to train delays, and the grant proposal promises extensive community outreach efforts.