(The following story by Michael Hotchkiss appeared on the Clarion Ledger website on May 7.)
JACKSON, Miss. — As Jerry Brown leaves for work from his Bon Air Street home, he listens for a train horn that lets him know how his day will begin.
Silence means he can head across the nearby rail crossing at Prentiss Street and make it to work on time. The urgent bellow of a train horn means a six- or eight-block detour via Capitol Street and possibly a late arrival.
A just-completed project on Kansas City Southern’s tracks in west Jackson should make Brown’s commute more reliable, and a separate construction project should bring relief to drivers on State Street downtown — another crossing that frequently draws the ire of delayed drivers.
Those troublesome crossings and efforts to relieve delays highlight the complicated co-existence of metro-area residents and railroads.
Thirteen people have died in accidents at or near railroad crossings this year, already surpassing the nine deaths for all of 2003, said Donna Prince, executive director of Mississippi’s Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit group focused on rail-crossing safety.
The railroads are profitable, moving millions of tons of raw materials and finished goods through the state each year. But the train traffic is also dangerous — Mississippi consistently ranks among the top states in the number of collisions between cars and trains and deaths in such incidents.
Familiar disregarded
Behind many of the railroad crossing deaths, Prince said, is complacency that comes from living in a state with 2,700 rail crossings, more than one for each mile of track. There are 526 crossings in Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
“I think people in Mississippi are used to living their lives the way they’ve always lived them,” Prince said. “They think nothing bad is going to happen to them.”
Half of vehicle-train incidents happen at crossings equipped with active warning devices such as lights, crossbars or bells, Prince said.
Jackson-area drivers negotiate rail crossings for two major north-south lines operated by CN and a major east-west line operated by KCS. About 25 KCS freight trains, 20 CN freight trains and two Amtrak passenger trains run over the lines each day.
At rail crossings along those lines, drivers often encounter aggravation.
“Every time I come back from a delivery, there’s a train there, and I have to sit and wait,” said Christi Livingston, who delivers auto parts for Ryan’s Supply Co., a block from the State Street crossing. “It gets on my nerves, because it’s always in my way.”
Rail relief
In Brown’s neighborhood in west Jackson, KCS two weeks ago completed a $2.9 million project to build a 7,800-foot double track and close a rail yard. The work should lead to a sharp reduction in the number of trains blocking Prentiss and Longino streets, railroad spokeswoman Doniele Kane said. In 2002, the Mississippi Department of Transportation installed additional warning signals at the Longino crossing, and the agency plans similar work on the Prentiss crossing.
For years, area residents have complained about blocked crossings and the amount of train traffic along Fortification Street, where trains often stopped. City Councilman Kenneth Stokes said blocked crossings lead residents to risk their lives by cutting through trains — stopped or moving — on foot or driving through crossings despite flashing warning lights and crossbars.
Several children have lost limbs over the years at the Prentiss Street crossing when attempting to go under or between train cars as the train cars started moving.
At noon one day recently, a van and a sport-utility vehicle each swerved around lowered crossbars at Longino as warning lights flashed and a bell sounded, passing within feet of a train stopped at the crossing.
Doris Thigpen has seen residents take many such risks from her perch at the counter of D&D Grocery and Market on Maple Street near the Longino crossing.
“The people have gotten so used to it that it’s just gotten to be a part of life,” said Thigpen, who has owned the store for 28 years.
Stokes said the best solution would be to remove the tracks or build overpasses across the tracks.
KCS is seeking bids for a separate project to connect its line with CN tracks in Richland by 2005. The project should cut in half the number of trains through downtown Jackson on the KCS line, Kane said. Westbound trains will use the new route, while eastbound trains will still pass through downtown. The eastbound trains shouldn’t have to stop and block State and West streets, she said.
Drivers frequently find themselves waiting at the State Street crossing as trains with as many as 100 cars pass. Livingston, who drives about half the day, says she gets caught at the crossing about twice a day, sometimes making her deliveries late.
Fixing crossings
Twenty projects to improve rail crossings are under way in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties, according to MDOT. The projects can include replacing crossing surfaces and adding warning signals, said Butch Swales of the MDOT rails division. Statewide, 176 projects are under way at a cost of about $20 million from both state and federal funds.
CN spokeswoman Karen Phillips said the railroad works closely with state and local officials to improve and close crossings. Closing rail crossings is an effective way to decrease risks for drivers, Phillips said.
“If you’re able to do some closures, you get a system that is much more streamlined,” Phillips said. “It keeps our operations running smoother, but it also helps drivers focus better on crossings that remain open.”
In Madison, a $31 million project to build a four-lane boulevard and a bridge over railroad tracks is expected to be completed in 2006.
The 1.5-mile Mississippi 463 project cuts across Madison from I-55 to U.S. 51.