Anti-Rail Groups Misinterpret Track Construction

A couple of anti-fracking groups in Houston county apparently got worked up over not a whole lot this week.  The groups jumped on what appeared to be evidence of Canadian Pacific getting ready to construct new tracks south of La Crescent.  That construction, they said, was clearly meant to increase capacity for new frac sand mining in Houston county.  Not exactly, the rail company tells us.  CP is replacing part of their bridge over Miller’s Pond near the intersection of highways 16 and 26 south of La Crescent. To make it safer and more sturdy, with concrete and steel girding rather than the wood timbers that hold the bridge together currently.  The company says the project is part of a regular program to replace infrastructure that’s getting old.