The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. is in the process of engineering an alternative to a rail expansion on the city's west side that could eliminate the need to interrupt the Cheese Country Trail, according to a railroad representative.
However, the possibility exists that the trail still could be blocked. There also could be a need to add up to three rail crossings on 4th Avenue, near the existing line to Badger State Ethanol, said Ken Lucht, manager of public affairs for Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.
"We just don't know at this point, but the biggest challenge we have at this point is that crossing at 4th Avenue. This would impact vehicular traffic quite a bit," he said.
The alternative came about following some opposition from the community to disrupting the Cheese Country Trail, Lucht said.
The alternative would include three to four rail lines parallel to the trail and would extend to the west of Badger State, he said.
Originally, the railroad company designed a 1.5-mile expansion to the current line which would end at Honey Creek Road. The expansion would disrupt the Cheese Country Trail.
To build the alternative design, the railroad would not need to purchase land, but would require 7,500 additional feet of track, and enough room to accommodate 50 rail cars to allow engines to build trains, Lucht said.
"We should know in the next couple of weeks," he said, when the engineering work is completed.
Wisconsin & Southern says the rail expansion is necessary to accommodate future economic growth in Green County, and is not just a result of the influence of inefficiencies with the city's three current users of the rail system. The company used data from 2002 to 2008 regarding growth of Badger State Ethanol, Epco, and Green Valley Ready Mix to support the need for a better train-building system in Monroe, Lucht said, emphasizing the rail is not for storage of cars.
"The inefficiencies with the three shippers is really causing the need for this project ... Now we are basically up against the wall, we are also looking into the future," he said.
Eric Huschitt, commodity manager at Badger State, said his company doesn't need the extra space for cars, and the company doesn't want to see an economic booster like the Cheese Country Trail be cut off to Monroe.
Huschitt cited Badger State's 20 percent drop in rail usage in 2009 due to a shift in how distillers' grain is shipped, the frequency and duration of ethanol shipments, and the slumping economy.
Around 2002, shipments of ethanol would require more cars on hand to meet demand of buyers in California, for example, and still have cars to make shipments elsewhere, Huschitt said. Today, with more ethanol plants throughout the United States, shipments of ethanol make shorter trips, allowing Badger State to use the same cars more often and not need to keep additional cars on site, he said.
Huschitt has been vocal regarding the need to keep the Cheese Country Trail open to help the local economy, and to suggest companies using the rail line can be more efficient to eliminate the need for more rail. However, Badger State does not want to tell the railroad what to do. In fact, he said it respects and relies upon the railroad.
"Badger State doesn't make projections for the railroad," Huschitt said.
But, if the plan to expand the rail line is based on Badger State's need, that's not the case, he said. Huschitt wants an alternative that is best for all parties involved, including the railroad, trail users and the City of Monroe.
Wisconsin & Southern is researching an expansion based not on the drop in ethanol shipments, but the five-year period prior to 2008 in which rail line use by the three users ballooned by 400 percent, and the projected 30 percent increase in usage over the next five years, Lucht said.
"We are looking at a much more broader horizon," he said.
In an e-mail letter Thursday to Monroe Mayor Ron Marsh, Wisconsin & Southern President William Gardener criticized opposition to the rail company's plans to expand its line to meet future needs and correct inefficiencies the company sees in current users.
The letter explains disappointment with Badger State in how it uses the current configuration of the rail line, and in Badger State, Epco and Green Valley not being able to generate enough revenue to Wisconsin & Southern to keep the line profitable.
It also accuses Badger State of undermining the effort to expand the line west.
The letter concludes with a question that appears to signal a future without rail service in Monroe and southern Green County if the community is not willing to work with Wisconsin & Southern.
"Bottom line is I will do everything in my power to work with people that will work with WSOR but when people do not want to work with the WSOR, I get the message loud and clear. What the future of Monroe does without rail service is another problem that I will not be involved with," Gardner said, in the letter.
The letter does not mean to say the company will end rail service to businesses in Monroe, Lucht said.
"Wisconsin & Southern Railroad would never do that," he said. "He is reminding people of the risk we took, and to know we have a clear need to expand."
Marsh seemed surprised by the letter, particularly after sending a letter to Wisconsin & Southern seeking to discuss alternatives that could help keep the Cheese Country Trail intact, even offering possible incentives from the city.
"That's why I asked for the council to be able to send a letter," Marsh said Thursday. "If the rail and the trail could be side by side, that would be great. We will have an economic loss if we have don't have a trail here."
Marsh has no problem with Wisconsin & Southern's justification for the rail project, but he wants the opportunity to sit down with railroad representatives to offer incentives and discuss alternatives for the rail expansion, he said.
"No, we are not against the rail, we need it in Green County," Marsh said. "We need all the alternative transportation methods that we can get."
However, the possibility exists that the trail still could be blocked. There also could be a need to add up to three rail crossings on 4th Avenue, near the existing line to Badger State Ethanol, said Ken Lucht, manager of public affairs for Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co.
"We just don't know at this point, but the biggest challenge we have at this point is that crossing at 4th Avenue. This would impact vehicular traffic quite a bit," he said.
The alternative came about following some opposition from the community to disrupting the Cheese Country Trail, Lucht said.
The alternative would include three to four rail lines parallel to the trail and would extend to the west of Badger State, he said.
Originally, the railroad company designed a 1.5-mile expansion to the current line which would end at Honey Creek Road. The expansion would disrupt the Cheese Country Trail.
To build the alternative design, the railroad would not need to purchase land, but would require 7,500 additional feet of track, and enough room to accommodate 50 rail cars to allow engines to build trains, Lucht said.
"We should know in the next couple of weeks," he said, when the engineering work is completed.
Wisconsin & Southern says the rail expansion is necessary to accommodate future economic growth in Green County, and is not just a result of the influence of inefficiencies with the city's three current users of the rail system. The company used data from 2002 to 2008 regarding growth of Badger State Ethanol, Epco, and Green Valley Ready Mix to support the need for a better train-building system in Monroe, Lucht said, emphasizing the rail is not for storage of cars.
"The inefficiencies with the three shippers is really causing the need for this project ... Now we are basically up against the wall, we are also looking into the future," he said.
Eric Huschitt, commodity manager at Badger State, said his company doesn't need the extra space for cars, and the company doesn't want to see an economic booster like the Cheese Country Trail be cut off to Monroe.
Huschitt cited Badger State's 20 percent drop in rail usage in 2009 due to a shift in how distillers' grain is shipped, the frequency and duration of ethanol shipments, and the slumping economy.
Around 2002, shipments of ethanol would require more cars on hand to meet demand of buyers in California, for example, and still have cars to make shipments elsewhere, Huschitt said. Today, with more ethanol plants throughout the United States, shipments of ethanol make shorter trips, allowing Badger State to use the same cars more often and not need to keep additional cars on site, he said.
Huschitt has been vocal regarding the need to keep the Cheese Country Trail open to help the local economy, and to suggest companies using the rail line can be more efficient to eliminate the need for more rail. However, Badger State does not want to tell the railroad what to do. In fact, he said it respects and relies upon the railroad.
"Badger State doesn't make projections for the railroad," Huschitt said.
But, if the plan to expand the rail line is based on Badger State's need, that's not the case, he said. Huschitt wants an alternative that is best for all parties involved, including the railroad, trail users and the City of Monroe.
Wisconsin & Southern is researching an expansion based not on the drop in ethanol shipments, but the five-year period prior to 2008 in which rail line use by the three users ballooned by 400 percent, and the projected 30 percent increase in usage over the next five years, Lucht said.
"We are looking at a much more broader horizon," he said.
In an e-mail letter Thursday to Monroe Mayor Ron Marsh, Wisconsin & Southern President William Gardener criticized opposition to the rail company's plans to expand its line to meet future needs and correct inefficiencies the company sees in current users.
The letter explains disappointment with Badger State in how it uses the current configuration of the rail line, and in Badger State, Epco and Green Valley not being able to generate enough revenue to Wisconsin & Southern to keep the line profitable.
It also accuses Badger State of undermining the effort to expand the line west.
The letter concludes with a question that appears to signal a future without rail service in Monroe and southern Green County if the community is not willing to work with Wisconsin & Southern.
"Bottom line is I will do everything in my power to work with people that will work with WSOR but when people do not want to work with the WSOR, I get the message loud and clear. What the future of Monroe does without rail service is another problem that I will not be involved with," Gardner said, in the letter.
The letter does not mean to say the company will end rail service to businesses in Monroe, Lucht said.
"Wisconsin & Southern Railroad would never do that," he said. "He is reminding people of the risk we took, and to know we have a clear need to expand."
Marsh seemed surprised by the letter, particularly after sending a letter to Wisconsin & Southern seeking to discuss alternatives that could help keep the Cheese Country Trail intact, even offering possible incentives from the city.
"That's why I asked for the council to be able to send a letter," Marsh said Thursday. "If the rail and the trail could be side by side, that would be great. We will have an economic loss if we have don't have a trail here."
Marsh has no problem with Wisconsin & Southern's justification for the rail project, but he wants the opportunity to sit down with railroad representatives to offer incentives and discuss alternatives for the rail expansion, he said.
"No, we are not against the rail, we need it in Green County," Marsh said. "We need all the alternative transportation methods that we can get."