(The Associated Press circulated the following on June 22.)
HAMMOND, Ind. — Railroad companies have piled up nearly 2,000 unpaid traffic tickets for blocking crossings for half an hour or longer, according to a consortium of northwest Indiana cities.
Norfolk Southern Railroad leads several companies with 1,703 citations. CSX has 113, and Indiana Harbor Belt has 109, according to the Four City Consortium of East Chicago, Gary, Hammond and Whiting, which was formed in the early 1990s in part to ease roadway congestion.
Norfolk Southern attorney Geoffrey Blazi said the total for his company seems high.
“Norfolk Southern has worked closely with the city of Hammond through the years to try to identify ways to limit blockages and will continue to do so,” he said. “It remains the case, however, that the vast majority of blockages are caused by reasons beyond the railroad’s control.”
Blazi said the city has no legal basis to issue tickets for blockages caused by normal railroad operations. He also said the railroad believes federal law pre-empts state statutes on blocked crossings. Still, the attorney said the railroad wants to resolve the tickets “through negotiation rather than litigation” and hopes to do that soon.
Blazi said a meeting will be held next month with city officials to discuss the issue.
Many citations date back to 2004. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said a lack of ticket prosecution leaves police officers demoralized.
“Obviously once it gets to the prosecutor’s office, it’s out of our hands,” he said. “I’m under the impression nothing’s happened.”
But Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter said in a statement that the cases receive prosecution.
“We have met with Mayor McDermott and the Police Department regarding this matter, and we will continue to prosecute these cases when they come up on the court docket,” he said.