Louisiana 2015 2015 Regular Session

Louisiana Senate Bill SCR81 Introduced / Bill

                    SLS 15RS-1521	ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 81
BY SENATOR NEVERS 
TRANSPORTATION/DEV DEPT.  Directs the DOTD to require the Canadian National
Railway Company to open all railroad crossings in Tangipahoa Parish between Kentwood
and Ponchatoula.
1	A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To authorize and direct the Department of Transportation and Development to require the
3 Canadian National Railway Company to open all railroad crossings along Canadian
4 National Railway Company-owned track in Tangipahoa Parish between Kentwood,
5 Louisiana, and Ponchatoula, Louisiana.
6 WHEREAS, the Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway
7 headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, that serves not only Canada but also the midwestern and
8 southern regions of the United States; and 
9 WHEREAS, the Canadian National Railway Company is a public company that
10 reports employing some 22,000 employees, and which operates under the reporting mark
11 "CN" in both the United States and Canada; and
12 WHEREAS, the Canadian National Railway Company owns and maintains more
13 than 20,000 miles of track, including extensive trackage in the central United States along
14 the Mississippi River valley from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico; and 
15 WHEREAS, over the past ten years, the Canadian National Railway Company has
16 closed a great many of the railroad crossings currently existing in Tangipahoa Parish
17 between Kentwood, Louisiana, and Ponchatoula, Louisiana; and 
18 WHEREAS, it would greatly benefit the citizens of Tangipahoa Parish to have better
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SLS 15RS-1521	ORIGINAL
1 access over those railroad tracks to their homes, residences, and businesses by being able to
2 safely cross these existing railroad crossings using public roadways and the railroad
3 crossings, rather than having to find lengthy alternative routes; and 
4 WHEREAS, opening these existing railroad crossings would also allow emergency
5 vehicles more efficient routes to reach the citizens of Tangipahoa Parish requiring
6 emergency medical assistance; and 
7 WHEREAS, Canadian National Railway Company, as a transcontinental leader in
8 the railroad industry, possesses both the resources and the employees to effect the opening
9 of these existing railroad crossings along its track for the benefit of the citizens of
10 Tangipahoa Parish.
11 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
12 authorize and direct the Department of Transportation and Development to require the
13 Canadian National Railway Company to open all railroad crossings along Canadian National
14 Railway Company-owned tracks between Kentwood, Louisiana, and Ponchatoula,
15 Louisiana, in Tangipahoa Parish by December 31, 2015. 
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
17 secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Julie J. Baxter.
DIGEST
SCR 81 Original 2015 Regular Session	Nevers
Directs the Department of Transportation and Development to require the Canadian National
Railway Company to open all railroad crossings along Canadian National Railway
Company-owned tracks between Kentwood, Louisiana, and Ponchatoula, Louisiana, in
Tangipahoa Parish by December 31, 2015.
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