The recent semi / train accident in the city once again has people questioning having the main rail lines passing through the city.
The usual issues are being trotted out in coffee shop discussions, as one might expect.
There is the all too accurate worry that one day a train will derail carrying something very toxic which will escape and cause widespread trouble.
There is no doubt dangerous goods pass through the city by rail, and frankly probably by truck too, so the possibility of a serious accident hangs over us.
We saw that situation when a derailment near the Cargill Terminal east of the city was thought to be carrying dangerous goods, and safety protocols were enacted regarding traffic.
Next there is the ongoing concern that any train passing through our city could create an impediment to ambulance, police, and fire vehicles needed somewhere beyond the crossing where the train is passing.
That too is a legitimate concern.
But, in our world we are ultimately left with choices, most often those choices are influenced by a dollar figure, and that leaves the best we can often achieve is a reasonable balance in things.
One of the Yorkton This Week reporters received an email talking about John Wytrykush the mayoral candidate going back some three decades, who ran on a platform to move the tracks out of the city.
Voters elected Brian Fromm that year, sending a message that rail movement was not a high priority, or perhaps more correctly, the cost of such a move was prohibitive.
Now looking through the lens of history it might have been a worthwhile project to pursue, but we could list many things which look far better in hindsight.
So Yorkton is left with tracks intersecting the city.
It is not a unique situation. Cities have naturally grown up around rail lines. In this city’s case it actually moved in its earliest years to get closer to the steel which brought goods and took away produce.
As cities grew, the rail lines were soon encompassed.
This brings us back to modern day Yorkton.
The accident was of course unfortunate. All accidents are.
But that does not suddenly mean the tens of millions it would require to move the rail lines outside the city is suddenly going materialize. Nor, does it mean if the money were available that it would be the best option given the city’s aging water mains, sewer lines, and street asphalt.
It is a situation that will not change anytime soon, which puts some onus on us as citizens to remain diligent around rail intersections, as we will need to live with them cutting across the community for years to come.
