(The Stevens Points Journal published the following story by Gena Kittner on its website on August 20.)
JUNCTION CITY, Wisc. — A Canadian National plan to close a rail crossing is meeting with sharp resistance from residents.
The Office of the Commissioner of Railroads plans to hold a meeting between Canadian National and village officials to find a compromise short of closing the railroad crossing at Highway 10 and Highway G. The meeting date has not been determined.
David Meier, attorney and hearing officer with the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads, said the railroad’s petition to close the crossing is atypical. “It arises out of the apparent conflict between the interstate commerce for the railroad and the community’s right to co-exist,” Meier said. “We’ve never been up against this before.”
Canadian National has petitioned the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads to close the Highway G crossing and divert traffic to Court Avenue and then to Gingle Street.
More than 60 people who use the crossing packed the village municipal building during a public hearing last week to argue for keeping the crossing open.
Emergency service response times and traffic concerns were cited as reasons the village needs two crossings.
“We’ve got farmers that farm on both sides of those roads,” said Jim Winch, village president. If the crossing was closed, farmers would have to tow their equipment through residential neighborhoods to cross the tracks, he said.
The village board has recorded its opposition to the closing. CN officials say the closed crossing would increase safety.
“There is another crossing half a mile away that is connected by frontage roads that are parallel to the track,” said Jack Burke, CN spokesman. “It’s hardly an inconvenience to anyone. … The safest crossing is a closed crossing.”
But Winch said other factors play into CN’s stance. The railway wants to be able to leave a train sitting at the crossing, he said.
Burke acknowledged that a closed crossing would benefit the railroad for switching and connecting trains.
“If there were no crossing there, motorists would no longer be inconvenienced at that crossing,” Burke said. “We make every effort to make that time limited as possible.”
Meier said the commission will listen to concerns from all parties but make the ultimate decision.
“Whether to close or open it is not a democratic process,” he said. “What we’re looking for is rational logic.”