Davenport Iowa USA - Former Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba is urging Davenport city officials to turn down a US$10 million offer and fight a merger between two major North American rail companies that's expected to triple train traffic.
 
Wednesday night was the first time in six years Gluba had stepped in council chambers, Gluba told aldermen.
 
The merger, "perhaps the most significant issue ever to face our city", compelled him to speak his mind.
 
"Families, often thousands of our citizens, and visitors congregate around them to relax and recreate," Gluba said, referring to riverfront parks and amenities.
 
"All these wonderful improvements will be threatened and become dangerous to our people should this train merge be approved."
 
Rail companies Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have sought approval by a federal transportation board to merge.
 
It's a deal valued at about US$31 billion that would create the first single rail system connecting the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
 
The Quad-Cities is among communities that would see the greatest impact, according to the companies, with the number of trains expected to increase from roughly eight to 22 trains per day.
 
Davenport leaders, who expressed "grave concerns" of the impacts of added train traffic, entered negotiations with the rail company earlier this year.
 
Next week, Davenport aldermen will vote on a settlement agreement in which CP would agree to pay Davenport US$10 million to improve infrastructure to assuage noise and safety concerns.
 
The money hinges on approval from the five-member Surface Transportation Board and would bar Davenport officials from opposing the merger during the review process.
 
Gluba said he wanted to see Davenport start a campaign to stop the merger, which a coalition of Chicagoland city leaders are doing.
 
The group turned down a US$10 million offer from CP to be split between eight towns, which they say isn't enough to truly mitigate the three-fold increase in train traffic.
 
"We need to get regional coalition together to fight this," Gluba said after the meeting.
 
At the very least, he added, the city should've held public input meetings to hear directly from stakeholders until the board releases its environmental impact statement.
 
Gluba pointed to potential environmental and safety consequences of a train derailment, referencing one in June in Lansing, Iowa, that dumped coal into the Mississippi River.
 
A CP spokesperson said the company had the lowest accident rate of any Class 1 railroad.
 
Davenport and Bettendorf attorneys have said from their research, the cities would likely receive much less from the Surface Transportation Board if the city rebutted the offers and the merger was still approved.
 
At-Large Alderman Kyle Gripp, who was part of the negotiations, said he shared Gluba's reaction when he first heard about the proposed merger in December 2021.
 
"Grave concerns to be honest with you because I think it has the potential to threaten the vitality of our riverfront and our downtown. But we took a very proactive and strategic approach to this, and I thank our staff for that," Gripp said.
 
"We did our homework mainly looking at what are the chances that the merger goes through? If the merger goes through and we don't have an agreement with CP, what are we likely to receive in compensation? And the answer to that was quiet zones and likely nothing else," Gripp continued.
 
Under the agreement, CP would give Davenport US$2 million to pursue federal grants to build an overpass over South Concord Street near Davenport's Water Pollution and Control Plant, which city staff have said already faces long delays because of its proximity to a rail switch yard that they fear would lengthen with three times as many trains going through.
 
Davenport would also receive US$8 million in discretionary funds, which City Administrator Corri Spiegel said on Wednesday would be used for quiet zones that would involve designing intersections so trains don't have to blow their horns, and leftover funds could be used at the council's discretion.
 
Gripp said he believed this to be the "best deal" for Davenport and would support it.
 
CP spokesperson Andy Cummings pointed to the company's merger application, which states that the merger "will not cause more crude oil to be shipped by rail" because the volume is determined by "macroeconomic forces."
 
"But, we do anticipate that CPKC will allow the crude-by-rail shipments from Canada to the United States that do occur to be handled more safely and efficiently."
 
According to the companies, the merger will hasten a transition to transporting crude oil as bitumen, which the company claimed is "non-hazardous," rather than as a flammable liquid.
 
At-Large Alderman JJ Condon said despite the added rail traffic Davenport would "find our way to the Mississippi River like Davenport does."
 
"We are the city with a love affair so great with the Mississippi River, we refused to build a flood wall because disconnected from it and and now we're facing this," Condon said.
 
LeClaire Still in Negotiations
 
LeClaire, a city of 4,710 that has based much of its identity and marketing on its riverfront businesses and homes, is still in negotiations with the railroads, Mayor Dennis Gerard said.
 
A train derailed on the LeClaire riverfront in 2020, which according to emergency management officials didn't result in any injuries or deaths, and a chemical spill was mitigated without affecting the river.
 
Gerard said the city and CP commissioned a consultant's report that he said would study the city's rail intersections and outline improvements needed to each.
 
"We're not committed to anything, but we are in negotiations," Gerard said.
 
"We've expressed our concerns through the right process with the transportation board. The best thing to do is assess how we can make it have as little disruption as possible."
 
Sarah Watson.