Stalled trains cause problems

December incident blocked county road, children left stranded Trains blocking roads in Koochiching County have brought the need for communication and an emergency plan to the attention of Koochiching County Board. Commissioners met Tuesday with Kevin Soucie, a lobbyist for Canadian National, to discuss their concerns after County Road 98 near Ericsburg was blocked for more than two hours in December. The train, which crosses the road at two sites, was blocking access to a portion of the road from U.S. Highway 53. People didn’t know who to call during the blockage and ended up calling the sheriff’s office, which referred them to CN because it didn’t have an answer, Commissioner Wade Pavleck explained. When a train is stopped across a road for an extended period of time, the train is experiencing a mechanical problem, Soucie said. “It’s not because there’s any intent to block the crossings,” Soucie said. Stalled trains are unproductive for CN, which wants to move trains through communities as quickly as possible to minimize stopping situations, Soucie said. “We’re the last people who want the trains standing around,” Soucie said. At issue for commissioners is communication. When a train is blocking a road, people need a contact person who will know what is going on. “I’m concerned with our population and the right information getting to the right people,” Commissioner Chuck Lepper said. Sheriff Brian Youso should be notified by CN immediately when a train stops across a road, Pavleck said. Lepper wondered what would happen if an emergency occured there. “What about the people in peril on the other side?” Lepper asked. The December incident revealed the need for a plan. CN uses the same radio frequency as emergency personnel and can communicate with them if there is a problem with a train, Soucie said. If an emergency were to occur while a train is stalled across a road, the train can be split to allow emergency vehicles through. The problem with that, according to Soucie, is reconnecting can be difficult in cold weather. The blocked roads force people to take chances, Commissioner Kallie Briggs said. While the train was stopped on County Road 98, young children were dropped off by a school bus, she said. The children’s parents were on the other side of the train and couldn’t reach their children to pick them up. People ended up passing the children over the car connections to waiting parents on the other side, Einar Sundin reported at the meeting. A state law limits the amount of time that a train can block a road to 10 minutes, Commissioner Kevin Adee said. Laws are great, Soucie said, however, a mechanical problem with the train could take longer than 10 minutes to resolve. Pavleck suggested the board explore what can legally be done when a situation with a blocked road comes up. Koochiching County isn’t the only community with the problem. CN has also received complaints from Virginia residents about trains blocking roads, Soucie said. Commissioners’ concerns will be brought to CN operators for input, Soucie said. Commissioners visited the issue a few years ago after a train blocked County Road 24, where Adee lives, he noted. After that, a service road was added so emergency vehicles could access houses on the road in case of an emergency, but nothing was done to allow residents to travel out of the area when the train is stopped, he added. In other business, the board: • Approved a conditional use permit for K & T Properties to create a residential planned unit development consisting of seven duplex units and one single residential unit. The PUD will be located on Highway 11 East at the former Bohman airway seaplane base and the former launching site for Camp Kooch-i-ching’s island camp. The property is within the Jackfish Bay sewer project. • Approved a resolution of support for the Freedom to Breathe Act, the state’s proposed ban on smoking in all businesses. • Tabled awarding bids for county vehicles until the Feb. 6 meeting. • Agreed to appoint two commissioners to work with Voyageurs National Park in finding a new headquarters in Koochiching County. The lease on VNP’s current headquarters will end soon and the private owner of the facility may not update it to meet VNP’s needs, causing park officials to look elsewhere, Briggs reported to the board. Two communities in St. Louis County are interested in relocating its headquarters to St. Louis County, noted Briggs.