I-35 is just an expanded US-77. It was not unusual for the US-Highways to run immediately adjacent to railroads.
So now the interstate runs immediately adjacent to the railroad.
In Valley View, FM 1307 is the OLD US 77, and it runs about 2.5 blocks west of the tracks, and I-35 runs much closer. So, the only section of I-35 in the Valley View area that is build over the OLD US 77, and is right beside the tracks, is the very short section from the cemetery north to Hockley Creek Rd
Basically the U.S. Highways often have a parallel rail line outside of towns. When they run through towns, they usually split.
How ever, B.N.S.F. in the surrounding area is usually quite far from U.S. 77 and Interstate 35.
Interstate 35 should have been constructed west of Valley View, not east. And now they have a widening project that will run in to the B.N.S.F. line.
So how are they going to be able to widen Interstate 35?
If TxDOT hadn't given up on rerouting 35 due north from just north of Sanger to pass west of both Valley View and Gainesville then we wouldn't need this discussion.
Honestly would it be that hard to route the southbound lanes west of Valley View and make the current route northbound? leave the service roads and it would allow for an eventual dual pair of 4 lanes each direction without having to acquire more land in town. I mean yeah it may be more expensive but ROW looks still open on westside to couple the freeway from just south of the cemetery to the south side of the city. They could even just convert the existing 4 lane bridges to northbound only but then that would just be more work down the road with having to get the 16 ft 2 in clearance TXDOT recommends on all new builds. The bridges were built during the initial routing of I35 and the only work I see is they have filled in the center median to make the existing bridges wider compared to the original designs. It is mind boggling that they won't allow a reroute of the rail road through the city. There is not an amtrak stop for the heartland flyer which uses the corridor. My question is if they do have to reroute the freeway around the city what to do with the existing 4 lane setup. Making it a business 35 with exits seems overkill for a small town. Honestly an another scenario I see is making express style lanes that go around the city with a 2 and 2 setup that tie into the widened freeway that have no exits and keep exiting traffic on the existing route. Or they pull a double decker through the corridor which is really unfeasible as the bridges will need to be replaced down the road.
Those people who protested against routing the rail road realignment probably watched Return To Green Acres, a reunion movie that is based on a colour programme and the producers knew it before editing the "old" footage to make it look black and white for the movie's opening. Other than an unrealistic chase of Arnold through New York City, it is about a bunch of people in Hooterville that ran the land and road developers out of town by attempting to demolish the hotel they were staying in. Ever since, it has be came a genre of its own.
But the few people who shut down the attempts to reroute the B.N.S.F. further east of Valley View where it belongs (and provide room for Grade Separation) are only a few people. The rest of the town seems to want the Grade Separation and The Realignment.
The only proposals that were realigning Interstate 35 west of Valley View left out Frontage Roads (!) and was objected by The I.S.D. ... They want the grade separation for their bus route, but not like that.
I have not ever seen a town in between the median of an Interstate. They might double deck the Interstate. ...
Since I can not find any new information, and since no body has typed any new information ...
One possibility that I would like is putting a bridge over the B.N.S.F. in Spring Creek Road. There is plenty of room for a Bridge as well as plenty of room for Interstate Expansion.
Also with F.M. 922, if the B.N.S.F. is not realigned, they will need to build a much taller bridge for Interstate 35, and elevate part of F.M. 922, and elevate the Frontage Roads. Or perhaps B.N.S.F. will be so kind to elevate the rail road instead.
It seems much easier to move the B.N.S.F. rail road further East, and build the bridge there so they won't have to build the endless road construction.
Lots of towns along the KCS railroad are split in two. Mena, Heavener, Hatfield (there is an overpass for US 71 there, but it does not connect the two sides of town), Cove, and probably a bunch of others in the area.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hatfield,+AR+71945/@34.4823119,-94.3811528,26m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x87cb2a12c101b52b:0xfb1e25991a0525da!8m2!3d34.485662!4d-94.378547?hl=enTaking Polk Road 141 or Polk Road 24 will end up at a bunch of winding roads, perhaps gravel, or not even roads ... yet they show up on the map. It might take hours to travel a short distance.