State officials toured one of Anoka County's most dangerous and congested rail crossings last week to decide if a multimillion-dollar construction project is worthy of a bonding proposal.

The House Capital Investment and Bonding Committee visited the Hanson Boulevard railroad crossing in Coon Rapids on Thursday. The meeting comes eight months after Gov. Mark Dayton's visit to the city, where he conducted a roundtable discussion about rail safety issues in the area.

An average of 81 trains travel through Coon Rapids a day, with some blocking traffic for up to 25 minutes at a time.

That's not just an inconvenience for motorists. When trains block an intersection for that long, it can affect response times for emergency vehicles that either must wait for the train to clear or detour to longer routes.

Coon Rapids officials are asking the state to chip in about $12.6 million (or 50 percent of the $25.2 million proposed budget) to build an overpass over Hanson Boulevard. The overpass would separate road and train traffic and ensure emergency response vehicles have a reliable route. Anoka County, the Counties Transit Improvement Board and the city would fund the other half of the proposed budget.

"Our goal is to convince them that this is very important to the citizens from an emergency response perspective, and the driving public, and keeping trains and cars apart from the safety perspective," said Coon Rapids Fire Chief John Piper.

Piper said the longer response times have a "significant negative effect on police, fire, and ambulance in the city of Coon Rapids."

A jump in traffic on BNSF Railway lines has created backups at rail crossings. Cities such as Coon Rapids that experience traffic backups blame train staging — for example, when trains pulling into a rail yard slow down or stop in front of the crossing.

The crossing at Hanson Boulevard has been identified by the state's Department of Transportation as one of the top funding priorities for an overpass.

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647