News
Highway department will help repair TSR washouts
An agreement between the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) was reached Tuesday that will pay for the washed out track on the Texas State Railroad.
“This arrangement could not have happened without the help of state Sen. Robert Nichols,” said TPWD Commissioner John D. Parker, who spoke with the Cherokeean Herald at press deadline by phone.
“We are very encouraged that Tx- DOT is going to help us out and make a broader interpretation of how the MOA funds are going to be used.”
Mr. Parker said that an unsung hero working behind the scenes at TPWD to find money for repairs is Steve Whiston, division director of the infrastructure department.
“Sometimes the heavy lifters don’t get recognized,” Mr. Parker said.
Preliminary estimates place damage costs between $750,000 to $1 million to repair the track damaged from summer floods.
Scott Boruff, deputy executive director of TPWD, told the Cherokeean Herald by phone Monday that the funds would be transferred from TxDOT, to TPWD, and then to the Texas State Railroad Authority.
Mr. Boruff explained that TPWD has an agreement with TxDOT for park road maintenance. He said the agreement with TxDOT is to direct some of those funds towards repairing the washouts at the TSR.
“The rail authority expressed a desire (to oversee the repairs),” he said, adding that the rail authority can repair the tracks faster because they will not have to go through “all of the hoops” that TPWD will.
“Six months is a quick turnaround for us, but (the rail authority) can do it more quickly,” he said.
Repairs to the washout will be a big undertaking, Robert Crossman, superintendent of the TSR said 9,000 yards of fill dirt will require 3,000 dump trucks at the big washout at Bean’s Creek.
