LAKE CHARLES, La. — Members of the Starlight Baptist Church in Lake Charles are preparing for a protest. What was once an active railroad line along First Avenue now looks more like a dump site, television station KPLC reported.
For the last two years the railroad tracks here have been an eye sore for the community. You can find just about anything along the tracks from cups and trash… to even broken glass.
And residents say it gets a lot worse. Residents says property values have dropped, and the tracks are a hazard to kids. They want them removed.
On the other side of Railroad Avenue where they’ve had railroad tracks that have been abandoned, they have been moved. You’ll never know a track has been there. The church mailed letters to both the city and the railroad back in August with more than 50 signatures from area residents and businesses.
The city says they’ve also mailed a letter to the railroad requesting a meeting on the issue, but have gotten no response yet.
Union Pacific railroad tells us they’re researching the rail line to see if it does belong to them, and if it’s officially been abandoned. If so, they say they’ll work with the church to resolve the problem.