City seeks feedback for railroad overpass solution

by Keeley Moree

The City of Liberal is pursuing federal grant funding for project development for a new railroad overpass in Liberal. A survey has been launched to collect the community’s ideas and show public support for the grant application.

The “Railroad Crossing Solution Survey” is available in English and Spanish on the main page of www.cityofliberal.org. This survey asks about resident’s transportation needs, their encounters with blocked railroad crossings, and their thoughts about potential intersection closure and grade separation locations for a second railroad overpass. The survey is also available in print format with language assistance service available for participants at City Hall, 324 N. Kansas in Liberal. Anyone traveling in Liberal is welcome to participate, even if they live outside city limits.

Research for a grade-separated overpass began in 2023 and concept plans were drafted for the S. Western Ave. and S. Pershing Ave. crossing locations. Staff have since been focused on pursuing federal grant funding opportunities made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support further development and construction activities.

“Liberal’s blocked train crossings are more than an inconvenience – they’re a safety issue and a barrier to access in our community,” Keeley Moree, Chief Communications Officer, said. “We found a grant that supports project development efforts needed to study a couple of site location options for at-grade crossing closure and construction of grade-separation for vehicles and pedestrian traffic. Our next big step in this process is collecting feedback from the community that we can submit with our grant application to show there is a community desire to fix this problem.”

In addition to the survey, public engagement activities will include interviews with key stakeholders – such as first responders and business owners – a Town Hall meeting on July 30, and additional pop-up opportunities for residents to share their ideas. The City of Liberal is also soliciting letters of support from businesses, community groups, and organizations to include with the application.

“Our survey will be open through September 3 and we urge everyone to participate,” Moree said. “Changes to the grant program put us on an aggressive timeline to get our application ready, but we’re very determined to win this grant so we can move forward on a solution to blocked railroad crossings. What we need now is for our community to step up and speak out about their challenges so we can move the project forward using federal investments.”

For more information about the survey, or to submit a letter of support for the grant, please contact Keeley Moree, Chief Communications Officer, at (620) 626-2257 or [email protected].

The public is invited to access the survey at: https://polco.us/n/res/vote/liberal-ks/railroad-crossing-solution-survey