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A train passes through LeClaire Park as the sun sets in Davenport, Jan. 30, 2019.

If a merger between two North American rail companies is approved by a federal board, Davenport will receive up to $10 million from the new company under an agreement aldermen unanimously approved Wednesday. 

The agreement is the latest approved by local governments in Iowa that attempts to leverage the rail road's resources in what many say is a likely to be approved $31 billion merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern.

Cities plan to use the settlements to pay for improvements they were unlikely to get from a federal transportation board, such intersection upgrades to reduce noise from additional freight traffic or overpasses to prevent blockages. 

Davenport aldermen approved the agreement Wednesday after a lengthy public comment where at least 15 Quad-Cities residents asked the council members to delay approval, ask for more money from the rail companies, or deny it and gather support to lobby the Surface Transportation Board to deny the merger altogether.

But Mayor Mike Matson said ahead of the vote he believed with the research the city has done into previous agreements that it would be irresponsible for the city to turn down the offer and risk the federal board approving the rail merger and then paying for mitigation measures through the city's budget.

“I believe the city council's role and obligation is to ensure that our city does not find itself in a position where the merger moves forward and we have $0 invested by Canadian Pacific in our community. That outcome would be completely irresponsible,” Matson said.

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern are seeking to merge, which would create the first single-line rail system connecting the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. 

Freight along the new cross-continental route would have to pass through the Iowa Quad-Cities. In its application to the federal Surface Transportation Board, which will decide whether the merger forges ahead, Canadian Pacific expects to attract freight traffic from other rail routes and from 62,000 trucks a year because of greater efficiencies of a single-line rail system.

The rail companies expect that diverted traffic is expected then to increase the number of trains through the Iowa Quad-Cities from roughly 8 to 22. 

Davenport's agreement includes an $8 million payment to be used as the city sees fit, which likely would fund infrastructure improvements to create a "quiet zone" between Mound Street and Marquette Street, as well as address other access concerns for vehicles and pedestrians. 

It also includes a $2 million commitment to go toward an overpass at South Concord near a water pollution control plant close to W. River Drive and Credit Island. This commitment hinges on the city securing other grant funding for the project. The city would not receive the money if the board denies the merger.

Last week, the Surface Transportation Board and Office of Environmental Analysis released a 357-page draft environmental impact statement that sought to measure the impact of the merger on noise, safety, the environment, cultural resources, among others.

Overall, the draft report concluded that the merger's impacts would be "negligible, minor, and/or temporary" save for train noise, "which could result in adverse impacts at some locations."

Alderman Kyle Gripp said the council wanted to wait to vote on the agreement until the draft statement was released. But, he said, for him, the report further cemented the likelihood that the board would approve the merger, and dwindled his confidence that Davenport would be awarded anything without the voluntary agreement.

Out of all 20,000 miles of track in the new network, Scott County is expected to have the most locations sensitive to extra noise that would be "adversely affected" by the added train traffic. Those locations include homes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and places of worship.

The Office of Environmental Analysis will hold a public comment period, where it'll take comments on the draft environmental impact statement. People can comment online at www.stb.gov/

The public comment period ends Sept. 26. 

Davenport will host one of four public in-person meetings across the country. It'll be Sept. 13 from 6-8 p.m. at the River Center, 136 E. 3rd St., Davenport. Three online comment meetings will also be held.

After the comment period, a final impact statement will be released, and the Surface Transportation Board will make a ruling to allow or not allow the merger to go through. 

In Chicagoland, about eight cities banded together to oppose the merger before the Surface Transportation Board, something that Davenport's agreement will prevent them from doing. 

Several people who spoke at public comment encouraged aldermen to not "throw in the towel" by signing an agreement that would preclude them from making further comments on the merger. Many sung praises of the riverfront, and fear that too much noise beyond train horns could deter music groups from booking there, people from walking there, or enjoying lunch on the riverfront. Or, even more disastrous, a train delaying emergency response vehicles or a heightened, though still slight, risk of derailment.

"Are we a victim of circumstance?" Michelle Solis Russell asked aldermen. "Because the big boys are coming through town throwing something at us and we're just going to take it? Or are we the strongest peg on that bench? And there's a lot of pegs on that bench along the river across the country that are like us. But they're not as strong as Davenport. We can be that peg that says no, slow down. Let's gather that bench together"

Russell continued: "Are we going to be train town? Is that Davenport, Iowa? Or are we going to be river town?"

Others, including Scott County Supervisor Ken Croken and State Rep. Cindy Winckler voiced concerns about the impact of increased train traffic overall, and encouraged aldermen to ask Canadian Pacific to allow them to delay the vote until after Sept. 13.

Tom Warner, the Davenport city attorney, clarified after the meeting that the city had had a 10-day window to approve the agreement, and delaying the vote could've meant scrapping the agreement.

In the last month, Bettendorf and Muscatine, too, have signed agreements with Canadian Pacific for compensation if the merger does go through.

Other cities along the route, including LeClaire and Clinton remain in regular meetings with rail road officials.

Andy Cummings, spokesperson for Canadian Pacific, said after the meeting that the company was very pleased with the unanimous adoption of the agreement. 

"We are here to stay," Cummings said. "We've been here for a very long time. We're here to serve the businesses of eastern Iowa; we have a lot of employees locally, and we look forward to continued good relations with the city."

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Bettendorf, East Moline, and Silvis Reporter

Sarah is the Davenport, Scott County, and Iowa politics reporter for the Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus. A DeWitt native, she graduated from the University of Iowa in 2021 and was editor of the student-run newspaper The Daily Iowan.

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A train passes through LeClaire Park as the sun sets in Davenport, Jan. 30, 2019.

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