On April 16, with the majority of its members not in attendance, the Rapid City Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Technical and Citizens Committee unanimously approved a 267-page study recommending that the RCP&E railyard be relocated to Box Elder. The mayor of Box Elder was not present. Neither was the City of Box Elder’s planning department.
The vote was 1-0 in practical terms — a quorum of the reduced room, moving a recommendation that will now advance to the MPO’s Executive Policy Committee when it meets June 11.
The Railyard Relocation and Railway Configuration Study
Here is what the study they approved actually says:
1.The railroad picked the site, not the data.
2.The study’s own scoring framework ranked Piedmont first. Box Elder came in second.
3.The project team recommended Box Elder anyway, stating explicitly in the report that the site “would work best from the perspective of RCP&E.”
4. Four RCP&E employees sat on the study’s advisory team.
5.The preferred site has the worst environmental profile of any candidate.
6.The Box Elder site contains 161 percent more wetlands than the existing downtown yard and sits adjacent to Box Elder Creek, which the study identifies as a “regulatory floodway” subject to significant seasonal flooding.
7.The report acknowledges this “could result in complex and time-consuming environmental permitting and mitigation requirements.”
Preliminary Cost Estimates
The cost estimates leave out a significant liability.
The study prices the railyard relocation at $22.4 million to $44.7 million, with a separate $9 million to $16 million for Pressler Junction wye improvements — a combined potential tab of up to $60.8 million.
On the same page as those figures, the report acknowledges that much of the downtown rail network runs on easements, and that “if a railroad only has an easement, the land often reverts to the landowner upon abandonment.”
No costs associated with those potential reversions appear anywhere in the financial tables.
The Executive Policy Committee takes up the study June 11.
Make Your Voice Heard: Legal and Finance Committee Meeting
The Rapid City Legal and Finance Committee is scheduled to formally review—and potentially approve—the Draft Railyard Relocation Study this week. Because the agenda explicitly lists this as an item for “Approval,” this is the critical juncture where public feedback is required before the financial framework is pushed to the full City Council.
- When: Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 12:30 PM (Typical committee start time; check final published agenda for exact schedule)
- Where: City Council Chambers (2nd Floor), City/School Administration Center, 300 6th Street, Rapid City.
- The Target Item: Agenda Item 26TP019 (Approve the Railyard Relocation and Railway Configuration Study Draft Report).
- How to Participate: Meetings are open to the public. If you wish to speak on the record regarding the unbudgeted 5th Amendment liabilities, the Box Elder relocation, or the “Zombie Easements,” arrive early to sign in for the “General Public Comment” section.
- Watch Live: For those unable to attend in person, the meeting will be streamed live on the Rapid City government website.
How To Find This Report to Read in your Leisure Time
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