By Howard Greninger
Motorists tired of getting bumped around at railroad crossings should look at an identification number and location posted on crossarms and call the railroad, said Brad Miller, Terre Haute street commissioner.
One crossing slowing traffic to a near crawl in Terre Haute is at 10th and Poplar streets. That intersection’s ID number is 342274V, located at OZA 178.25 mile post, according to the railroad’s crossarm. The crossarm lists a telephone number of 1-800-232-0144 to report accidents or other incidents.
Miller said the city’s street commissioner office had been receiving 10 to 14 calls a day last month about rough road conditions at some crossings. However, that number has since dropped when residents discover the city street department is not responsible for the crossings, nor can the department repair them, he said.
“The railroad owns 50 feet on either side of the tracks. We can’t do work on their crossing. Even if we were to try to fix a crossing and something happened, like a tire blew out and caused an accident, the city would assume liability,” Miller said.
“Besides, the city is not set up to repair the railroad crossings. We could put in asphalt, but that would not really repair the problem,” he said.
A call seeking comment was left Tuesday with CSX at its Jacksonville, Fla., headquarters.
Piles of asphalt and rubber can be seen next to the crossing at 10th and Poplar. CSX Transportation, which owns the tracks, repaired that crossing in September 2005, as well as railroad crossings at 10th and Elm streets, 10th and Locust streets and Fourth Street and College Avenue.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com
