Weiner, Ark.—Following years of repeated flooding concerns and what local officials describe as inaction from Union Pacific Railroad, the city of Weiner took it upon itself to clear an obstructed drainage culvert beneath railroad tracks near town.
Heavy rains recently inundated the community with nine inches of water, prompting Mayor Jeremy Kimble to authorize local action to alleviate the problem after persistence with Union Pacific yielded no permanent fixes.
“We got to protect our citizens,” Kimble said. “If a pipe is causing flooding and we can help it, we’re going to help it.”
The issue centers on a steel culvert constructed with a vertical crosstie for structural support that, according to Kimble, routinely traps debris flowing through the pipe. He described a years-long effort to bring the matter to the railroad’s attention.
“I’ve been reaching out to our contact at Union Pacific for all four years I’ve been mayor,” Kimble said. “They’ve said someone would come look at it, but four years later, we still have the same problem.”
This week’s work marked at least the fifth time the city has cleared the pipe under Kimble’s tenure as mayor. Despite the repeated measures, he said the design of the culvert itself demands attention.
“It’s just going to clog again,” Kimble said. “We’re going to just try to stay on it until they come assess it and replace it, hopefully with a pipe that won’t cause flooding.”
The city’s decision highlights ongoing challenges faced by small towns across Arkansas when dealing with large corporations over infrastructure maintenance. The mayor expressed hope that Union Pacific will eventually provide a long-term solution to prevent similar flooding in the future.