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C. Conl Transportation <br />• The Denver 6 Rio Grande Westezn Railroad tracks cross SH-133 six times between <br />Hotchkiss and the Hawk's Neat Complex. These crossings are located in the <br />following arena: <br />- One on the western outskirts of Hotchkiss; <br />- One on the eestern outskirts of Hotchkiss; <br />- Three between Paonia and Somerset (all three within a mile and one- <br />half length of road); and <br />- One east of Somerset. <br />The Colorado Department of Highways' plane for the new highway corridor will <br />help alleviate train highway interaction. The new highway will be built on <br />the other side of the Gunnison River, and away from the D&RGW tracks. (See <br />Hotchkiss to Paonia Dam, Final EZS, December, 1978.) <br />• Hawk's Nest coal is transported by the Denver fi Rio Grande Western Railroad. <br />Currently, the mine fills on the average of 40 care per day (the coal unit <br />train typically consists of 73 cars). when peak production of 1.5 MTY is <br />reached, Hawk's Nest will require approximately 58 cars per day, or a train <br />approximately every thirty hours, compared to the current schedule of one <br />train every forty-eight hours. Currently, Hawk's Nest requires 5 unit train <br />trips every 10 days. When peak production is reached, 6 trips will be <br />required every 10 days. Additional train traffic will increase the noise <br />level and ground traffic inconvenience, particularly until the new highway is <br />constructed. in the interim, unit trains may be able to be scheduled for off- <br />peak traffic hours to try to reduce the potential congestion and impact on <br />emergency vehicles such as ambulances. <br />Another impact on ground transportation is trucking mine "gob" to a <br />landfill. Mine refuse, 6,000 tons monthly, is currently trucked to the Delta <br />County Sanitary Landfill. According to Region 10, 37 truckloads of 'gob" are <br />transported daily (Growth Management & Housing Plan, Paonia, Colorado, June, <br />1980). Western Slope Carbon is currently working with the U.S. Hureau of <br />• Mines and OSM to eliminate the use of the landfill and truck haulage. WSCC's <br />55 <br />