(The following story by Jerry Jordan appeared on the Beaumont Examiner website on October 19.)
BEAUMONT, Texas — A decade-old state law backed up by a city ordinance is about to be dusted off and better enforced by police, according to Beaumont City Manager Kyle Hayes and Mayor Becky Ames, who both agreed when asked what could be done about trains that continuously block intersections throughout the city.
Concerned citizens who contacted The Examiner said they are tired of having to wait for as much as one-half hour or more for trains to pass. They said the number one problem is the track owned by Southern Pacific Railroad that crosses South, Laurel, Broadway and North streets, Liberty, Calder and McFaddin avenues and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Because of the configuration, a single train can block all of those intersections at one time. Prior to Hurricane Ike making landfall, The Examiner monitored the Calder and MLK railroad crossings. On three separate days during the same week, a train or multiple trains blocked the roadways for longer than the legal limit. Several times passenger vehicles were observed trying to go around the barricades because the trains would briefly clear an intersection before backing up as it was switching cars at the KCS rail yard near Seventh Street.
“We used to have a big problem with that right here at City Hall before we closed off Main Street for the port (of Beaumont),” Ames said. “I think it is something that we need to enforce. I would bet there (aren’t) a lot of people that know this law is on the books or else they would be calling the police more often. I would hope writing your story will help with that.
“Since you were out there and saw when it was happening that makes it easier for the police. If the citizens would take note and remember when they are delayed that will help us get officers to that area.”
Hayes said, “They are not supposed to block an intersection for more than 10 minutes, and I know that we get calls and we see where trains are at Calder and MLK for longer than that time. It’s bad enough when they have a train that is, say, 100 cars, but we really start having problems when they begin switching.”
State law forbids trains to block crossings for more than 10 minutes. The offense, according to Chapter 471.007 of the Texas Transportation Code, is obstructing railroad crossings. “A railway company commits and offense if a train of the railway company obstructs for more than 10 minutes a street, railroad crossing or public highway. An offense under this section is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than $300.”
But the city’s ordinance, Section 22-4, is much stronger, cutting the time in half that a train is allowed to block an intersection, street or highway unless it is “kept in constant forward motion while passing the crossing and engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce.”
That appears to indicate that trains being switched from one track to another track in the afternoon while most people are trying to go home from work are most likely violating the city’s ordinance. If that is the case, it means conductors, engineers or operators can be given a citation for violating that law.
But, writing railroad companies traffic citations has not been a priority for the Beaumont Police Department, despite several instances where emergency vehicles had to be rerouted because of trains blocking intersections.
Radio communications from the fire and police departments frequently mention having to reroute emergency responders because of the trains even though the law does require that trains uncouple to allow emergency responders through. The problem is that unless the train is blocking the only access point to a particular area, it is likely quicker to find an alternative route even if it means going several miles out of the way.
Records from the city of Beaumont obtained pursuant to a public information request shows that in the 10 years the law has been on the books, it has only been utilized on two occasions.
In October 2001, Officer Donald Jackson cited Union Pacific Railroad for blocking a railroad crossing. And in June 2004, Officer R. Freeman cited a train conductor for the same offense.
Lt. John Boles, who recently took over the traffic enforcement unit along with Sgt. Jason Plunket, said his officers might be working in another area of the city when a problem occurs and by the time they arrive the train could be gone.
“Having been a victim of those trains several times, it is like it is one long train, and I will try to avoid the one at Calder and it took me forever to get around it,” Boles said. “I would urge them to call dispatch because they can get an officer out there. If it is a problem we can send someone out to check on it, but (the) issue is trying to locate who is in charge for the railroad company, but we can take care of that.”
Boles said he is more than willing to have his officers cite the railroads for blocking crossings.
“It is an ordinance that is on the books, and now that it is becoming a problem, we will enforce it,” Boles said. “The city has certain intersections that they get more complaints on than others, but when we get a complaint we will definitely enforce it.”
When asked what can be done to alleviate the problem, Hayes said informing citizens of their options is the best scenario.
“I agree with the mayor. The way you can help is when you write an article so the public is made aware of what they can do,” Hayes said.
“If a citizen is at an intersection that is blocked by a train for more than 10 minutes they can call the police. That helps us get officers out there to move along. And if that doesn’t work then our officers will write citations. The ordinance is on the books to address this problem.
“You know, the one I always seem to get stopped at is the one at Calder and then at MLK. Sometimes you are in traffic and you can’t turn around to go a different route. It gets frustrating.”
But, blocking streets and backing up traffic aren’t the only problem the city is having with railroad companies. Hayes said they just aren’t good neighbors.
“No, they’re not,” Hayes said. “We have three railroad with tracks running through Beaumont and we have had issues on getting them to cut their grass, blocking intersections and blowing their horns in established quiet zones. We are constantly sending them letters about high grass. If their grass is higher than 12 inches, take notice and let us know. We will send them a letter. If they don’t cut we will and we will send them a bill. It seems like we do that on a continual basis. They are just not good neighbors, and often they don’t have a local office, so you don’t know who to get in touch with and you can’t find people that will call you back. So, yes, it is a problem.
“I have called them in the past and our code enforcement staff has sent them notices and tried to get in touch with them, but they don’t respond.”
Ames said she had recently received a nuisance complaint about trains sounding their horns despite the city’s efforts to establish quiet zones where neighborhoods are not to be disturbed by horn blowing.
Calls seeking comment from Burlington Northern Sante Fe were not returned by press time.
Raquel Espinoza, director of corporate relations for Union Pacific, said she is very concerned about the newspaper’s findings. She said the company takes very seriously matters of blocking intersections and has a policy against it. She also said that excessively tall grass is unacceptable and she will address both of the issues immediately to see what is going on.
“It is important to figure out which company is blocking the crossings because in addition Union Pacific running down there you have Kansas City Southern and BNSF,” Espinoza said. “One of the things that is important is who is doing it. I can tell you that Union Pacific, we make it a point to not block crossings. We have job briefings in the mornings and discuss the public crossings and plan our work around that to make sure that we don’t block crossings. I talked to our local people there in Beaumont and they were not aware of any problematic crossings that were blocked.”
Espinoza explained that Union Pacific’s tracks run parallel to College Street through the West End of town and out towards Houston. As for the high grass and quiet zones, that is something that she promised to look into.
“As for the quiet zones, our people know not to do that,” Espinoza said. “Our policy is that they will blow them for 30 days after a quiet zone is established and then they will no longer do it. We want to be a good corporate citizen. We are very involved in the community because our employees live there and we care. So, absolutely I will look into these things.”
A representative of Kansas City Southern sent an e-mail outlining that company’s philosophy on blocking railroad crossings.
“The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR) makes every effort to keep its trains moving efficiently, and particularly in Beaumont, has worked to keep train movements through town fluid; however, occasionally, trains are stopped for signals, mechanical failures, etc,” stated the e-mail from C. Doniele Kane, AVP Corporate Communications & Community Affairs.