City administration continues to hound CN Rail about fixing the rail line across Main Street North, but it appears the rail company is riding the brakes on this problem.
Coun. Crystal Froese raised the issue of when the company would repair the rail line during city council’s June 15 regular meeting. She pointed out that she knows some residents have been asking as well.
“We’ve been working quite diligently with CN. They move at their own schedule,” said city manager Jim Puffalt. “We’ve been stressing with them (a) number of times to get this done. Darrin Stephanson (director of the public works and utilities department) is working hard (on this). We’re hoping soon. It’s CN.”
Froese then asked if the company would resolve this problem by the summer.
“The amount of times we raised this with them, you would think they would get it done,” replied Puffalt. “But we’ll stay on it and stay on them.”
In an email to The Moose Jaw Express, CN Rail spokeswoman Lindsay Brumwell explained that the company had communicated to city hall that the rail cross rehabilitation would happen before the end of September. She pointed out CN has faced challenges to accessing required construction materials.
"Unfortunately, recent changes to supply chains and materials have impacted CN’s schedules and planning," she said. "We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to continuing to collaborate with the City of Moose Jaw on this joint safety critical project."
Safety is a core value at CN, Brumwell added, and it encourages residents to contact the CN’s Public Inquiry Line (PIL) either by phone at 1-888-888-5909 or by email at contact@cn.ca with any questions or comments about CN.
The next regular council meeting is June 29.
