The Camanche City Council has turned down the settlement Canadian Pacific Railroad is offering to address far more train traffic in the area.
Canadian Pacific Railway is acquiring Kansas City Southern, a merger that’s expected to eventually triple train traffic through parts of eastern and southern Iowa. Davenport’s City Council has voted to accept a $10 million settlement. The Bettendorf and Muscatine City Councils have both agreed to $3 million settlements.
Canadian Pacific offered Camanche $200,000, for closing two of the seven railroad crossings in Camanche to cross traffic. The mayor of Camanche has told media outlets in the Quad Cities area that is not acceptable and, if a train carrying crude oil from Canada derailed, the only escape route for 1200 Camanche residents would be the Mississippi River.
Federal officials are still reviewing the proposed merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. If approved, the company would be the only single-line railroad linking Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.