Why is 54th Avenue closed at the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks?
In the mid 1990’s, the UPRR planned to expand operations of their Fife switchyard, by building a second track eastward from its yard and across 54th Avenue. The UPRR petitioned the UTC to close the crossing, Fife initially fought the closure, but recognized that it was likely to be approved and changed its position to seek mitigation for the closure and the UTC approved the closure subject to a number of conditions, including the UPRR’s provision of acreage adjacent to the closed crossing for municipal park use. The City of Fife entered into an interlocal agreement with the Fife School Board for joint development of a Junior High School and a municipal park. In the development of Columbia Junior High School the School District in 2001 petitioned the Fife City Council to restrict general public access to the crossing for related school safety reasons. At the same time, the UPRR said that the project priority had changed and that it was no longer immediately planned. In November 2001, th
