ArchivesResidents of northeast Rio Rico wanted the right to traverse a country lane in Tumacacori to reach Interstate 19. Residents of Santa Gertrudis Lane wanted to keep their gravel road closed to through traffic.
 Sparks fly as Lester Weil uses a torch to cut a lock on the Union Pacific Railroad gate on Santa Gertrudis Lane. Weil joined a protest of northeast Rio Rico residents who claim they have the legal right to cross the lane. Photo / Denise Holley |
At least 75 non-residents of the lane staged a public protest near the east end of Santa Gertrudis at Pendleton Drive on May 30.
After they cut a lock on the Union Pacific Railroad gate, railroad representatives on the scene vowed to close the rail crossing that bisects the lane farther west.
“If you cut this gate, you’ll be cited,” said Roy Gallardo of the Union Pacific Police.
When someone pulled the gate down last fall, it wasn’t reported to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, said Lt. Raoul Rodriguez. But the railroad replaced the gate, which sits on property owned by the Santa Gertrudis Lane Association.
Larry Leslie, a resident of the Salero Ranch northeast of the lane, called for the Saturday morning protest.
“If you live on the Baca Float, you have a deeded easement through that lane,” Leslie told the crowd.
The Baca Float is a Spanish land grant that forms all of Rio Rico and a portion of southeast Tubac and stretches east to Coronado National Forest, including Patagonia Lake, said Kathi Campana of Rio Rico. She and Ken Hallock are co-chairs of the Baca Float Coalition Inc., which did not participate in the protest.
“As a board, we unanimously decided to remain neutral,” Campana said. “I hope they (the protesters) didn’t hurt themselves and the rest of the people who want to cross.”
The coalition is trying to preserve the historical access routes granted to property owners east of the Santa Cruz River, Campana said.
“About 1,200 cars a day use this crossing,” said Larry Collins, Union Pacific track manager, who confronted the protesters at the gate. “It’s a tremendous liability to my company.”
After Lester Weil used a torch to cut a lock that belonged to the Tubac Fire District, protesters pushed the gate open and nearly knocked Collins to the ground, he told the Nogales International. He was unhurt, but filed a complaint with a sheriff’s deputy. Weil also filed an assault complaint and both complaints will go to the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s office, Rodriguez said.
“We (Union Pacific) agreed to give them (residents east of the river) Palo Parado, 2.4 miles away,” Collins said.
He referred to the rail and river crossing to the south where Union Pacific has agreed to work with Santa Cruz County to create a public crossing with a paved road and signals.
Campana said the Baca Float Coalition met with residents of Santa Gertrudis Lane last fall.
“Basically, they don’t want anyone crossing who doesn’t live there,” Campana said. When trucks pull heavy loads across the gravel surface, “it makes it rough and bumpy and tears up the road,” which the residents maintain.
“Our goal is to work with all our neighbors and the Baca Float Coalition to get the Palo Parado Crossing open with a bridge,” said Katie Sayre, a resident of Santa Gertrudis Lane.
If the rail crossing is closed, it will create a dilemma for at least one residence and a horse ranch on the south side of the lane. They lie between the railroad tracks and the Santa Cruz River, which swells during the summer monsoon season and becomes impassable for vehicles. Another property on the north side of that section, Avalon Gardens, has its own access to Pendleton Drive.
“It’s an unfortunate turn of events,” said Luis Heredia, director of public affairs for Union Pacific. He declined to comment on what action the railroad would take.
Since the protest, Leslie has requested help from U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, (R-Ariz.) U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and the Arizona Corporation Commission, he said. He also consulted an attorney about a class-action lawsuit against the railroad.
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George Wilgers wrote on Jun 9, 2009 10:55 AM:
Thank you to who ever closed it. "
George Wilgers wrote on Jun 3, 2009 1:00 PM:
check out the website at english.pravda.ru/print/opinion/columnists/107459-american_capitalism-0
It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bl00dy test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists. "
A Rio Rico Resident wrote on Jun 3, 2009 12:51 PM:
The roads in Rio Rico are the way they are because the Gulf American Corporation conned the County into believing they would make good on promises to build the proper infrastructure if the County let them out form the Assurity Bonds back in the 1970's when GAC was going bankrupt because of all the lawsuits and fines over its land fraud. Several bankruptcies and reorginizations latter, the resulting company Avatar has no interest in meeting the promisses of its predecessor.
This makes the access an issue of land, and money. If the County decides to put an access in, it has to acquire the land. It has to get the engineering. It has to get the necessary environmental clearences. It has to get a permit from the railroad for a crossing, or meet the standard passed by the state a couple of years ago for a grade seperated crossing. And it has to come up with the actual amount of money this project will most likely cost $15 Million Dollars. And that will be for a small bridge that will probably wash out the next time the river flows like it did in 1983. "
NERR Resident wrote on Jun 3, 2009 2:01 AM:
Talk and stonewalling the matter will not get the job done. "
Paul Tronbley weedly wrote on Jun 2, 2009 9:28 PM:
20,000 people. Can you imagine any community of in the U.S.20,000 that has access and egress controlled by a railroad? Think about it!! Our ability to leave our community is controlled by the
railroads schedule. They don't own our property, There is a time that one reaches wihen changes need to be made. For some reason, I personally do not fully understand; Santa Cruz County and Nogales continue to KOWTOW to the railroad. Nogales is even worse. They kowtow to the point that their children are incredibly endangered by the railroad, When one thinks about it, only those who live in a third world country are treated so harmfully by and American Corporation. We can only leave our community as the railroad permits, and can only get to Tucson as the Border Patrol permits. If that ain't Third World, I don't know what is.
It is time for our Local Government to get up off of their butts, and get us back into the United States of American!!!f "
George Wilgers wrote on Jun 2, 2009 9:02 PM:
If you got suckered, you can only blame yourself. Quite trying to force others to pay for your mistakes. "
One of the Protestors wrote on Jun 2, 2009 4:56 PM:
Deadly_Crossings wrote on Jun 2, 2009 10:53 AM:
Only a matter of time before someone is killed by a train or drowns. "