Wichita's elevated train tracks were completed just in the nick of time for area drivers. More train traffic is expected to be riding the rails through town.

The elevated central rail corridor through Old Town cost $105-million dollars to build. However, with high gas prices sending more freight down the rails instead of roads these days, city leaders once again want to reconfigure how trains get through the city.

The central rail corridor certainly fixes some downtown dilemmas... traffic moves smoothly underneath the tracks, while trains move safely overhead. But what about along 21st Street in North Wichita? Or Zoo Boulevard out west?

"The railroads, to be real honest, don't really care if they're tying up traffic," says City Council member Sharon Feary. "All they worry about is moving the freight from point A to point B."

City leaders and railroad representatives met Thursday to discuss their options. Train traffic is increasing nationwide due to the higher cost of diesel fuel. Parts of Wichita are no stranger to the problems, which officials say, will only get worse.

Both sides want to improve safety and efficiency. For the city, that means better toad traffic. For the trains, Ed McKechnie of WatCo Companies, says it's an issue of moving freight through more efficiently. "That creates capacity and makes it easier for crossings," he says.

Getting more trains through town in less time is what everybody wants. But how should it be done? Some say the rails need to be raised in other parts of town. Others say trains that don't stop in the city should be rerouted entirely.

"A train moving from Houston to North Dakota doesn't have to go through Wichita," explains McKechnie. Therefore, he says it doesn't make much sense to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to raise the rails. Instead, he advocates rerouting tracks around the city completely.

No matter what, the price tag for more raised rails or a bypass around Wichita will be steep. Estimates already put the cost of raising the rails at $191-million. City leaders say that price will only go up with each passing year.

The good news is that the railroads say they're on board with finding and helping fund a solution. City engineers hope to have a master plan for the city future rail systems within a year to 18 months.