Trains a pain in Lake Twp.

MILLBURY — Trains continue to tie up railroad crossings in Lake Township, frustrating first responders and residents.

“I’m wondering if anything is being done,” Marvin Burns, a Lake Township resident, said at Tuesday’s trustees meeting.

Burns has repeatedly brought blocked crossing concerns to the trustees, even keeping a log of problem areas.
 
Police Chief Mark Hummer, who is also the township administrator, said he has been in contact with U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green, among other legislators and Norfolk-Southern Railroad.

“Everything that you gave us, which was very helpful, was passed on to Latta’s office,” Hummer said, adding that he has had several conversations with a representative from Latta’s office.

She suggested citing the railroad for blocked crossings, he said.

“The problem is that was a village. … we’re a township, we can’t pass ordinances,” Hummer said. “But she promised to keep the issue alive.”

Ohio Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg is trying to help, Hummer said. But this could be more of a federal/commerce issue that can’t be regulated by the state.

Ghanbari, however, said the Ohio Legislature is ready to take on the issue.

In an interview on Wednesday, Ghanbari said that House Bill 361 will be considered this fall. As written now, it would fine railroads $5,000 for a first blocked crossing violation and $10,000 for a second within 30 days, he said.

“It’s got bipartisan support,” he said of the bill. “What this bill would do is a couple things. First of all, current law is that a train should not be blocking a crossing for more than five minutes.

“They’ve had trains that have blocked crossings for days,” Ghanbari said, adding that fines could be levied.
 
The bill would also require the railroad to report to Public Utilities Commission of Ohio anytime there is a blocked crossing. PUCO would compile an annual report, Ghanbari said.

Since the bill won’t be addressed until the fall, he is trying to get the railroad to make some changes.

Ghanbari said he has been in contact with Norfolk Southern. Officials, he said, made some changes in how repairs were done and offered to look into grant funding to provide cameras and temporary work-arounds, in an effort to relieve the blockages.

Ghanbari said that he’s also told the Lake Township chiefs to notify him when there’s a blocked crossing, especially if it’s impacting emergency response.

“Call me and we’ll go out there and have a press conference,” he said. “Because someone’s going to die.”

The issue was last discussed at a Lake Township meeting in May.

Fire Chief Bruce Moritz said that a blockage hampered a transport after a 90-minute extrication of a truck driver on Libbey Road after a three-vehicle crash.

“It’s a miracle that the guy in the truck didn’t bleed out,” Ghanbari said.

He added that this is a county-wide and state issue, not just Lake Township.

“I’ve also heard from farmers down in the southern part of the county,” Ghanbari said, adding that one farmer said that a blocked crossing has taken his farm vehicle 7 miles out of the way.

Some of the frequently blocked crossings include Lemoyne, Pemberville, Walbridge, Bradner and Fostoria roads.

A request from Norfolk Southern for comment was not immediately returned.