Representatives from Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen met with the policy committee Monday to discuss the issue.

“We are going to work with the city to do our part but these are complicated issues,” said Joe Arbona, regional public affairs director with Union Pacific.

“The issues we are dealing with here have absolutely nothing to do with homeland security. It’s all about operations, crossings and serving the public demand for goods from Mexico,” Arbona added.

Taking trains apart and putting them back together within the city limits, delays in Nuevo Laredo, bottlenecks on the rail bridges controlled by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and coordinating crossings at 26 locations throughout the city all contribute complaints about blocked streets and noise.

M. Ivan Rodriguez, Union Pacific senior manager, put the issues in perspective.

“Being able to boast about being the country’s largest inland port brings with it certain costs. Everyone is benefiting,” Rodriguez said.

District III Councilman Michael Landeck agreed but emphasized, “there is no price we can pay that will offset choking the city.”

Rodriguez agreed and added, “safety for all Laredoans is a top operating priority for UP.”

James L. Riney, Kansas City Southern general manager, made clear his assessment of the situation “The bottleneck is at the bridge. Our goal is to move inspections off the bridge,” Riney said.

“We want to work with you to solve the problems but U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is hindering us,” Riney told the committee.

“We’re crossing (the bridge) at 4-5 miles per hour instead of the 15 miles per hour we were promised,” Riney said.

The problems addressed by the committee can also originate on the south side of the river.

“How well does Mexico do its job?” asked Assistant City manger Rafael Garcia.

“They need to be part of these meetings,” he added.

Not all of the discussion centered on describing the problem.

Terry D. Briggs, chair of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, suggested both short and long-term projects that could help reduce rail crossings blocked by trains.

“UP could build roadways along the Milo siding several miles north of town where inspections could be performed,” Briggs said.

“UP could also extend the Milo siding from Milo over Bob Bullock Loop to I-35 to allow more inspections and reduce inspectors downtown where they do them now,” Briggs added.

“UP might have to buy the land for these projects and it could be costly. But there’s great value to both UP and the city,” Briggs suggested.

Arbona responded to the proposals and general discussion.

“We need to look at how all the stakeholders are participating in this so we can reach consensus on how to address the issues in the long term,” Arbona said.

Committee members Juan Ramirez, Juan Chavez and Landeck all agreed on the need for a comprehensive approach, but Landeck sounded an alarm.

“Right now we are heading toward a catastrophe. So let’s get together to avoid that,” Landeck said.

Committee members, Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern agreed to meet in March to review commentary and proposals brought up at the meeting.

(Scott Shaffer may be reached at (956) 728-2547 or by e-mail at sshaffer@lmtonline.com)