Rail depot preservation project wraps up in Lawrence

Looking outside the window at the newly restored Lawrence Santa Fe Depot.

Following nearly nine years of planning and almost a year of construction, the historic Santa Fe Depot used by Amtrak and BNSF is set be completed this month.

The City of Lawrence, which owns the facility, will cut the ribbon in February, 2019 to rededicate the facility following the $1.8 million renovation project. It is funded through KDOT’s Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) funds, which is federal funding for non-traditional transportation projects.        

Crews at work outside the Santa Fe Depot in Lawrence.

“We’re excited to be at this point,” said Diane Stoddard, City of Lawrence Assistant City Manager.

The building dates to 1955 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The City of Lawrence, in cooperation with local preservation organizations, applied for the TAP funding, which reimburses 80 percent of the funds while the other 20 percent are provided by the project sponsor.

A view from the platform at the Santa Fe Depot in Lawrence. 

Federal TAP grants administered through KDOT fall into three general categories: bicycle/pedestrian, historic and scenic or environmental. The depot project received funds in the historic category because it supports rail transportation in Kansas.

The project preserved much of the interior, including artwork, furnishing, lighting and architectural features. It also provided the ability to build ADA-compliant access and restrooms, repair the roof and install geothermal HVAC and solar panels.

The rededication event is set for Feb. 22, 2019, at the depot.

Transload Talk: Facilities receive first wind turbine blades

The Garden City transload facility was completed Jan. 4, and received its first shipment of wind turbine blades on Jan. 25. This transload facility received a $3 million grant from the State Rail Service Improvement Fund. 

Transload facilities that were first discussed by the Kansas Freight Advisory Committee in 2015 have received their first deliveries of wind energy components at Great Bend and Garden City.

Transportation Partners and Logistics (TPL) at Garden City, which was completed Jan. 4, received its first wind blades Jan. 25. BNSF Railway is the serving railroad for the facility, which received a $3 million grant from the State Rail Service Improvement Fund managed by KDOT. TPL has expanded from 50 acres in 2011 to more than 200 acres. TPL serves clients in the wind energy, solar component and other related industries.

Wind Turbine Components began arriving at the Great Bend transload facility in January. The recently-operational facility also received a $3 million grant from the State Rail Service Improvement Fund. 

The Great Bend facility, which is operated by Sherwood Companies and served by the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad, also began receiving wind blades and tower sections in January. This month, shipments of nacelles (another wind energy component) began arriving. The facility will also be receiving aggregates soon. Phase 1 of the site development comprises 18 acres. Dirt work is underway for new rail construction and rehabilitation of the existing industrial rail will be completed this month. Materials are on site and construction of the new rail yard should be completed in April.

Great Bend and Garden City emerged from 111 sites that were submitted to the Transload Facility Site Analysis team in 2015 as locations for transload facilities.

Construction of Great Bend's transload center kicks off

This afternoon in Great Bend there will be a kick-off celebration for the state's first ever transload facility. Transload, means to move good from one mode of transportation to another, from rail to truck or truck to rail in this case. Great Bend was chosen out of more than 100 applicants for this site.