The Animas River Trail northern extension is designed to connect Memorial Park at 32nd Street with Oxbow Park and Preserve to the north. The trail would follow along the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad tracks.

Courtesy of Ballantine Communications Inc.

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The Animas River Trail northern extension is designed to connect Memorial Park at 32nd Street with Oxbow Park and Preserve to the north. The trail would follow along the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad tracks.

Courtesy of Ballantine Communications Inc.

The city of Durango plans to build the Animas River Trail northern extension across the railroad tracks. But is it safe?

That is the question administrative law judge Robert Garvey with the Public Utilities Commission drove from Denver to Durango to answer. The city says the railroad crossing as proposed at 36th Street is safe; longtime north Durango resident Isabelle “Marty” Schueller says it isn’t. Both had an opportunity to argue their case Thursday, and witness testimony will spill into Friday.

City Attorney Dirk Nelson called 15 witnesses and introduced 38 exhibits, providing technical details and expert testimony about how the design of the intersection meets state standards and would improve the crossing. Schueller, representing herself, called five witnesses and filed 15 exhibits with the PUC, offering Judge Garvey slice-of-life evidence from living at the intersection for decades and conditional factors, like snow or the length of vehicles, that make the intersection unsafe.

Garvey heard from eight residents Wednesday, six of whom said it would be hard to miss the train with its whistle, rumble and slow pace.

Janet Wiley said she lives three houses away from the proposed railroad crossing, has participated in the trail-extension process for a decade and admonished those arguing against it.

“It breaks my heart to see a handful of people – one or two people – being so vocal against the bike path,” Wiley said. “This is a benefit to the community.”

Cathy Turner, one of two people who spoke about the danger of the intersection, said she crosses the tracks at 36th Street at least twice a day. She supports the trail extension, but there are blind spots. It is a congested intersection – essentially a three-way crossing and dead-end with mailboxes and garbage cans. And the danger isn’t necessarily to walkers, but rather a hazard for bikers and drivers.

“I agree the bike trail will be great, but using that crossing is dangerous,” Turner said. “There are blind spots, and I have been surprised by that train multiple times.”

This week’s PUC hearings are in response to Schueller’s petition, which argued the crossing is too narrow, too busy and, at times, too congested for safe pedestrian crossing. She filed her petition to intervene with the PUC against the city of Durango’s application for the Animas River Trail northern extension to cross the railroad tracks.

The Animas River Trail northern extension is a more than $8 million, 4,600-foot pavement project to extend the pathway from Memorial Park near 32nd Street to Oxbow Park and Preserve, which has been closed indefinitely. City officials have been planning the project for about a decade.

36th Street railroad crossing