Madison County rail repairs already falling apart: residents
KILEVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – A railroad crossing in Madison County is beginning to crumble only a month after repairs.
The crossing on OH-161 between Dublin and Plain City sees thousands of vehicles per day. According to the Ohio Railway Commission, almost 10,000 vehicles cross that stretch of tracks daily. However, the last count at that location took place in 2004.
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Roger Spring began making calls to CSX Railroads in 2023 as the crossing condition began to deteriorate. He saw chunks of concrete the size of bowling balls lying in the road at times.
NBC4 spoke to Spring and several other people who travel that route on OH-161 every day in late February. Two weeks later, on March 7, the crossing was closed. Repairs were made that day, but Spring and several others quickly noticed it wasn’t holding up.
“It’s really bad,” he said. “You still have to slow down. Not quite as bad as it was before, but you still need to slow down a good bit. Well, it probably only took about three weeks. Concrete reinforced with rebar between the rails and on each side of the rails, on the road, sides of the rail and about three weeks after the repairs were made. That’s roughly speaking, the one of the concrete sections started to break out.”
The crossing presents several dangers. One person said their tire that was popped after driving over the crossing with loose concrete and steel. Other stories of rear-end accidents and near collisions have been told as well. One major issue is the difference in the speed at which drivers approach the crossing. Some drivers slow down to approach. Others maintain a speed around the speed limit of 55 miles per hour.
“They’re going to slow down, but the problem is, when they slow down, the guy behind them may not necessarily,” Spring said.
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This can cause a situation where one car slows down significantly to cross the track, and then begins to accelerate on the other side. Their brake lights are no longer engaged while they accelerate but are still traveling much slower than the 55-mph speed limit. Another driver who travels over the crossing at full speed can find themselves far closer to the car in front of them than anticipated as they cross the track.
Spring was skeptical when he saw how much time the crew spent on the repairs that day, which was about six hours.
“When I saw that they didn’t make any repair to the rails in terms of reinforcing the underside of that, I did not think this would hold up well, of which has proven to be the case,” he said. “The concrete that broke out had already broken down to the rebar. So they put asphalt on top of that.”
Fixing the approach and crossing for a railroad is the responsibility of the railroad company, according to Ohio law. During the March 21, 2024, meeting of the Ohio Rail Development Commission, Executive Director Matt Dietrich addressed the public concern with the deterioration and condition of railroad crossings in the state. He said:
“The surface conditions of rail grade crossings continue to be an issue for communities. Standalone grade crossing surface projects are difficult to address in Ohio. By Ohio law, which dates to the early 1950s, grade crossing surfaces are the responsibility of the railroad. However, deteriorating conditions can result in safety concerns for vehicular traffic. Federal safety funds can only be used when there is an identified safety concern. As a result, the Rail Commission must wait for PUCO inspectors to identify the crossing as a concern before we can engage the railroad about doing a project. Additionally, by policy we do not want the public to pay 100% of the costs for a project that is, by state law, the railroad’s responsibility. Therefore, we negotiate with the railroad to balance the railroad responsibility under state law with the safety concerns of the traveling public. It is a less than ideal situation because PUCO has no enforcement authority even if they find issues at the crossing. Because concerns about surfaces is an issue that is getting more attention from the public, I wanted to provide background of the situation and the Commission’s role in addressing those issues.”
Now, a month after temporary repairs, many in the Plain City area are talking about plans for a permanent fix this summer. In a community Facebook group, one person posted that they were told CSX was going to shut down the road at the crossing in Kileville for seven to ten days for reconstruction during the summer. Just the thought of a permanent fix has other residents like Spring hopeful.
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“It’s nice that we will have finally, hopefully a permanent fix,” he said.
NBC4 reached out to CSX Railroads, Ohio Rail Development Commission, and Plain City officials to try to confirm whether or not construction was planned for the reconstruction of the railroad crossing. That information has not yet been confirmed as of Monday night.
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