APAS, as well as the Alberta Federation of Agriculture and Keystone Agricultural Producers in Manitoba, are calling on the federal ministry of transport for help when it comes to the new mandatory grade crossing requirements.
The new requirements has led rail companies like CP and CN to give the repair bill from the crossings to producers.
APAS President Todd Lewis says those repairs can cost into the tens of thousands of dollars.
“In many cases, these agreements were put in place when the original right-of-way’s were formed for the railroads, and over the last number of decades, the crossings have been on the railroads’ dime, not producers,” Lewis said. “Producers don’t see any reason why that should change.”
Lewis says while many crossings are essential for producers and their families to commute off of their property, some may be removed because they’re no longer needed.
“They may be not used very much anymore, or equipment has gotten bigger and it’s not always practical to have crossings that are big enough for a big air drill for instance, or heavier combines, grain cars and those kinds of things,” Lewis said. “In a lot of cases you can go around to the other side, or you could just use crossings or road allowances, and so on.”
The federal regulation deadline is currently in November of 2021.
