For years, the train crossing at 12th Street has been a headache for Ogden commuters like Kelly Storrings. Freight trains block traffic on the four-lane road, often at unpredictable times.
Short delays up to 10 minutes aren’t really a problem for her. But when a train stops moving, there’s no way to know how long she’ll be stuck.
“It moves forward a little bit, so you get, like, excited, you know, like, I'm going to make it! And then it stops again, and you’re there over an hour,” Storrings said.
If your timing is right and you can see the train from afar, it’s easy to go south to 21st Street, she noted. That road crosses the tracks. But it’s out of the way, and even 21st Street can get backed up if all the other 12th Street commuters follow suit.
If she knew when the trains were coming, she could plan around them.
Union Pacific declined KUER’s interview request. In a statement, a spokesperson said the railroad is unable to share train schedules publicly.
So if Ogdenites can’t get insight into when the trains chug through, could they go over the snarls? Storrings would love to see a bridge over the tracks.
“I know that that would shut down 12th Street, you know, probably for a while, while they did it, but in the long run, I do think that it would be worth it,” she said.
Mitch Shaw, a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Transportation, is no stranger to the freight trains in Ogden. He used to commute across another east-west street that intersects with the tracks and remembers the frustration of waiting.
UDOT does see the need for a bridge, Shaw said, but the agency has limited resources and higher-priority projects.
“Now, is it an immediate need? No, but we know it will become a greater need as populations increase in this area,” he said.
Requirements from Union Pacific present extra challenges, Shaw said. After all, the railroad arrived in Ogden long before cars. UDOT would need to keep the tracks operational during the construction, and to get the bridge’s height and angle right, work would likely extend past the immediate area.
UDOT is working with the Federal Railroad Administration to study the feasibility and cost of constructing a bridge. It’s still in the early stages, so Shaw doesn’t expect a report until 2027. If the project appears viable, UDOT would seek federal funding.
“There's a lot of steps that still have to happen,” he said. “But we are, you know, we're on the path to kind of look at what's possible here.”
In the meantime, Shaw acknowledged that shifting traffic to 21st Street does raise concerns, especially as Weber County’s population continues to grow.
For his part, though, he’s conditioned to taking 21st Street just in case.
“You never know when a train is going to be coming through there,” he said. “You never know what kind of operations are going to be going on when the train does stop.”
Union Pacific said trains stop for a few reasons, like bad weather, mechanical problems or speed restrictions, which would affect trains entering or exiting rail yards. They said they work to minimize this, but anyone who sees a stopped train can report it at UP.com/NotifyUP or by calling (888) 877-7267.
Editor’s Note: We asked Ogdenites what questions they had about their hometown — and this was one of them. Got Ogden thoughts on your mind? Ask Macy Lipkin on X or Bluesky.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
