(The following story by Elizabeth Gibson appeared on the Columbus Dispatch website on March 23, 2010.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Every time a COTA bus approaches the defunct railroad crossing on W. Goodale Street, the driver has to stop, open the door and check both ways to make sure no ghost trains are coming down the abandoned tracks.
“There’s no possible way a train could come,” said David Moore, a regular passenger on the No. 19 Arlington-Grandview bus.
“But the crossing lights and bar are still there, so my driver has to stop and back up traffic or else he could get written up.”
The rails there have been abandoned for years, but the railroad hasn’t taken down the sign.
“As long as the city still has that sign there, we have to honor it,” COTA spokeswoman Beth Berkemer said.
No matter how bitter cold, the buses are legally bound to open the doors to check the nonexistent tracks that once crossed W. Goodale Street just east of the Olentangy River. Other buses and semis are supposed to follow the same rules.
After a call from The Watch, CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said in a voice mail that the railroad would remove the signs.