The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

City moves on railroad crossing project

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council prepared legislation that would authorize improvements at seven city railroad crossings, while also approving the closing of five less-traveled ones during its meeting on Monday.

Catherine Stout of the Ohio Railroad Development Commission talks about the proposed railroad crossing project in Van Wert. (Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent)
Catherine Stout of the Ohio Railroad Development Commission talks about the proposed railroad crossing project in Van Wert. (Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent)

Prior to the regular Council meeting, a handful of people showed up at a public hearing on the proposed elimination of five railroad crossings in Van Wert. Of those, two people wanted the Pleasant Street crossing to remain open, while the other speaker wanted the Harrison Street crossing to stay operational.

Also attending the meeting were Catherine M. Stout, manager of safety programs for the Ohio Rail Development Commission, which will be footing a portion of the estimated $1.5 million needed to reconstruct railroad crossings at Jefferson, Washington, Market, Walnut, Cherry, Tyler, Race, Franklin and Wayne streets, as well as Donald J. Damron, AICP, grade crossing specialist and project manager for the ORDC. The Genesee & Wyoming and Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern railroads would also provide funding for the project.

In addition to improving the seven railroad crossings, including reconstructing of the Washington Street crossing with a concrete surface, the crossings at Market, Race, Franklin and Wayne streets would also get new warning lights and traffic gates.

Stout talked about the reasons the ODRC is pushing for closing of railroad crossings at Pleasant, Vine, Chestnut and Harrison streets, and Anderson Avenue, noting that the ORDC believes closing crossings — particularly those used by relatively few vehicles — is necessary to allow railroad companies to use their resources more effectively.

“The State of Ohio is vitally interested and concerned about the safety of all the communities in the state,” Stout said, adding that the state will be using federal funds to help pay for the improvements to local rail crossings.

She noted that the local closings mirror a nationwide trend that calls for closing of 25 percent of U.S. railroad crossings, and added that, while her agency has a $15 million budget, each grade crossing upgrade costs approximately $250,000.

“So there are not a lot of grade crossings that we can upgrade … we have to use our resources carefully,” Stout said, adding that any crossings that are upgraded must then be maintained by the railroads.

Dave Waldron, who lives at the intersection of George Street and Fulton Avenue, and Russell Price, owner of Price Outdoor Equipment, located in the former Schumm Plumbing building on Leeson Avenue, both opposed closing the Pleasant Street crossing.

Waldron noted that the union hall on Pleasant Street not only houses union meetings from Federal-Mogul Corporation, but also is rented out for wedding receptions and other events. He said he felt traffic onto South Shannon Street would be increased if the Pleasant Street crossing was closed.

Price had concerns about added congestion and safety issues for his business if traffic increased along the outlet that runs along the railroad tracks by his two buildings from Pleasant Street to Leeson Avenue.

Local resident Tom Wise opposed the Harrison Street crossing, noting that he felt doing so would create a problem for EMS vehicles needing to access the northern portion of the city. He was also opposed to the increasing of train traffic within the city, saying he felt EMS vehicles could have problems getting to the north side of the city for medical emergencies, such as heart attacks.

Mayor Don Farmer did note that improving the seven crossings as planned would allow trains to get through town 2½ times faster, from the estimated 10 mph currently seen to a high of 25 mph.

The five crossings being closed also have the lowest traffic count, according to data collected by the city. Other than Anderson Avenue, which has been blocked off for two years, Pleasant Street has, by far, the lowest traffic count at 66 vehicles in a 24-hour period. Harrison Street was the third lowest at 291 vehicles.

During the regular City Council meeting, Council unanimously approved preparation of an ordinance allowing the crossing upgrade project to move forward. The legislation was also read for the first time on Wednesday.

Also during the brief regular Council meeting, Law Director John Hatcher noted that he is working on changes to the city’s income tax ordinance to reflect changes at the state level. Hatcher is also reviewing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could affect city income tax collections.

POSTED: 05/28/15 at 8:06 am. FILED UNDER: News