Projected rise in rail activity could mean more frequent, longer waits for drivers
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Traffic heading east on West Court St. waits for a train to clear the crossing in the late afternoon on 04-30-12. A projected increase in train traffic in Janesville may mean more and longer waits at crossings in the city.
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JANESVILLE — Milton Mayor Tom Chesmore was late to return a call from a constituent concerned about traffic delays caused by trains.
The mayor had been delayed by a train.
The constituent, Jon Kircher, said he wants to make it clear he's not complaining. He said he understands trains have the right-of-way.
"They're doing what they do," Kircher said. "My complaint is, we don't have any information, and I talk to people in Milton, and they're really upset about being held up in traffic.
"I can deal better with my road rage if I just knew what was going on."
Where the rail hits the road, lowered gates and flashing lights can raise motorists' blood pressures. In Milton, Kircher estimates Highway 26 traffic can back up one-half mile while a train blocks the road, and vehicles take many more minutes to get moving as they work through nearby stoplights.
Inconvenience is one thing, but the rails that bisect Milton can isolate rescue facilities on the wrong side of the tracks from an emergency.
Don't expect it to get better, railroad and state officials said. They predict train traffic will increase.
That might be good news for the local economy, but it will mean longer waits for drivers.
'As long as they want'
Local officials have little authority to combat traffic delays caused by trains.
The federal government regulates railroads, and the state regulates the safety of crossings.
Three railroads operate in Rock County. Troublesome intersections in Janesville include Five Points downtown and Highway 14 at Kennedy Road. A track cuts through Milton at Highway 26 near the Milton House and at John Paul Road.
One Janesville man wrote the Janesville city attorney in December 2010, citing a delay of 11 minutes one day and a "ridiculous" 17 minutes several days later.
Because trains engage in interstate commerce, they are regulated by the federal government. No Janesville city ordinance governs trains moving in one direction through crossings, no matter how long it takes to clear the crossings.
"If they are just moving goods through town and going in one direction and not going back and forth and doing switching, then they can take as long as they want," said Wald Klimczyk, Janesville city attorney.
Trains that are stopping or switching are prohibited by Janesville ordinances from blocking crossings for longer than five minutes or more than seven minutes out of 12 minutes. The fine is $150, although the city eventually gets about $10, with the rest going to the county and the state, Klimczyk said.
Such violations don't happen often, and the railroads generally cooperate with the city, he said.
Klimczyk remembers one instance in the 1980s when a train's crew blocked an intersection and went to lunch.
In Janesville, the complaints filed with the city attorney quite often are written by police officers and city bus drivers. A 15-minute delay means the bus system must send a van to complete the portion of the route the bus cannot access.
Rescue workers communicate with dispatchers and police officers so they know to take alternate routes to emergencies.
Doug Wood, legal counsel in the Wisconsin Railroad Commission Office, said it is "pretty clear that a state couldn't pass a law that says you cannot block crossing for 'x' amount of time if the train's moving … in one direction," he said.
If a train is stopped, "there usually is a reason why it is blocking a crossing," such as a mechanical defect, he said. Then, the railroad will try to separate the cars to open the crossing.
"The railroad is not looking to block crossings," Wood said. "They're looking to move freight. They're not making any money when the trains are sitting still."
More and longer
Jeff Plale, state railroad commissioner, agreed trains are becoming more numerous and longer.
Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, for example, is upgrading its track from Madison to Janesville.
"What used to be kind of a sleepy little line, with an occasional train—those trains are not only going to be much longer, they will be much more frequent," Plale said.
"A lot of the increase in traffic is just cars that are being added to existing trains."
Once improvements are made, trains will go faster, about 40 mph compared to 10 mph, now, said Ken Lucht, spokesman for Wisconsin & Southern. That will help ease congestion and shorten waits.
But the Court Street crossing west of Five Points is a different problem. Two rail lines cross four lanes of traffic a short distance from the convergence of five roadways. That crossing always will be less than 10 mph, Lucht said.
Plale said the increased train traffic has people asking questions.
"Suddenly, they have to wait for a train that didn't used to be there," he said.
More train traffic brings the potential for more accidents, as well.
Chesmore said the city will establish a monitoring system to track when and for how long intersections are blocked by trains.
If there's a fire on the east side of town or an accident on Highway 26 and a train is coming through the east side with 70 or 80 cars, that could present problems, Chesmore said.
He has contacted the railroads, and they understand the city's concerns.
"The amount of business they have right now … they're basically overwhelmed. We've tried to make them understand we have citizens who have concerns," he said.
"I think they're just trying to do their business and keep moving," he said. "They've explained to us that they are extremely busy, and that's why the size of the trains have increased so much."
On the other side of the equation is a business park that depends on the rail, especially the ethanol plant, he said.
Milton will get some relief when the Highway 26 bypass is finished, but that probably won't help local traffic.
"It doesn't sound like it's going to get better," Chesmore said.
May 23, 2012 at 1:36 a.m.
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LOL grandprixgirl, please feel free to guess all day. I own the place, and I don't treat my employees like they're robots. They can take breaks when they want, go home early when they want, etc. As long as their job is getting done I don't care one way or the other, and any employer that feels otherwise is penny-wise and pound-foolish. Like the GOP.
May 22, 2012 at 6:35 p.m.
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King Rizzo...you are such a funny person...NOT.
And Im pretty sure I know where you work.
May 22, 2012 at 10:21 a.m.
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kingrizzo - lol!!
saxcat- are you a slave driver or what.
How many times to ask they stay late or come in early or on a day off. Let them go to the bathroom geesch
May 22, 2012 at 9:05 a.m.
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"costing the company 3 minutes a day. that's 750 minutes a year. basically, they are taking a day off and getting paid."
That's exactly why, as an employer, I make my employees punch out to use the bathroom or to stretch their legs. NOBODY WASTES 3 MINUTES ON MY WATCH! NOBODY!!!!
May 22, 2012 at 7:39 a.m.
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those who vote that they are "often" delayed by a train, are "often" not planning for the expected.
May 22, 2012 at 7:09 a.m.
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The problem is that it takes longer than five minutes to switch cars out I have seen it done first hand. I can tell you for sure it can take anywhere from 30 – 40 minutes depending on how many cars have to be switched out I got to tour the round house in Janesville last year and watch how the cars get moved around. Now after seeing this done I think what is need is the railroad needs a track siding to perform this part of the operation to help relive the crossing so traffic does not get backed up. A train can move through a crossing in about 5 to 7 minutes as long as the train keeps moving. The problem is if the train has to stop it takes 30 to 40 minutes to accomplish this operation to get the train moving. What we need is a solution to relieve this problem and this may be one idea to consider but it would cost money that the railroad would have to pay question is would the railroad be willing to spend that kind of money?
May 22, 2012 at 6:55 a.m.
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Trains,planes,and automobiles....get a horse people if you don't like them !
May 22, 2012 at 6:27 a.m.
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Ive always wondered, though, why the railroad tends to have their most traffic during rush hour? It sounds like most of the posters here are older, and maybe dont have to get to work--because theres alot of people that seem to LIKE the trains..well, (even when I leave early!) its difficult to predict when or where they will be. And on the way home? Forget it, I take the extra long route home automatically, because I know at "rush hour"...there WILL be a train that meanders back and forth across the Five Points intersection. To me, thats ridiculous. That backs up traffic all ways.
And the "rule" mentioned in the article-about blocking for more than FIVE minutes. Are you KIDDING me??? I dont think ive sat throught a FIVE minute train in this town! Seriously.
Try the South Arch street crossing sometime.
But bring a book or a magazine. Because it can run upwards of 20-30 minutes. Ive called the police before, and that does nothing.
Whats really frustrating, is when I avoid the Five Points, go out of my way home, just to turn on Arch St, and there is the train again.
Sometimes it can take me 45 minutes to get from the east side of town to the west side--because of trains.
I know they are a necessity--but that doest stop me from despising them.
May 22, 2012 at 5:51 a.m.
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I understand your sentiment frogger but.... it is those who claim train lateness, that also punch the clock at 1 minute before start time, only to go to the bathroom, get a soda, drop off their belongings, etc.etc.etc. costing the company 3 minutes a day. that's 750 minutes a year. basically, they are taking a day off and getting paid.
May 22, 2012 at 4:45 a.m.
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If we have to share the intersections with the trains, it would seem the train companies could be courteous and post their schedules. If schedules were available, we could at least have some means to plan.
With today's technology, it would seem that routine schedules could be online. Couldn't GPS provide the data for an app if the schedules are irregular?
May 22, 2012 at 12:04 a.m.
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winterstinks, you seem to be unaware of the $9 billion spent on railroad improvements every year, including thousands of new miles of trackage. A good percentage of that is creating two-way trackage where only one track existed. (Incidentally, over $1 billion of that investment comes via Amtrak -- so you should realize that passenger rail investment also helps freight.) I'm not sure what futuristic scheme you have in mind for freight rail, given we have computer-controlled switching engines, digital dispatching with GPS, and barcode car and container tracking. Please, what are your suggested improvements?
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As to the delay issue, keep in mind that any 10 or 15 minute delay is multiplied across everyone who is delayed. It can add up to a substantial hit on productivity. Improvements that eliminate a grade crossing are preferred as policy, but grade separation and building new rail or road routes can be expensive. And even if you cheer the economic activity -- it's hard not to in these conditions -- not all of it is actually from Janesville; the W&S in particular carries a lot of freight from one end to the other all through here.
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Janesville only has three problematic crossings that I know of, and I haven't heard much about Beloit Ave. in a long time -- although certainly traffic there dropped after GM closed. Five Points and Kennedy Rd. are problems due to the lack of alternatives and the volume of traffic. Five Points has a few ways you can sneak around and get to the viaducts at either end, but you can still get trapped right at the light. Humes/Kennedy is really tricky because of the angle going right through an intersection, and there isn't any way to sneak around that's even sometimes worth the effort.
May 21, 2012 at 10:33 p.m.
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Remembering them rail cars that went thru 5-Points with no gates or signals about a year or two ago, i harridly use West Court Street anymore.there's always Rockport or Jackson street there also Oakhill-Memorial to get arounbd that intersection.
and too many people dont shut down their car engines whiloe waiting for the train to pass -- gas aint getting any cheaper!!
May 21, 2012 at 10:07 p.m.
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If all you people would wise up and stay home instead of working a job, you wouldn't have to worry about "getting somewhere"...Thats what the smart people do.....and then you don't have to pay taxes either...win win.
May 21, 2012 at 9:44 p.m.
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I bet there are people all over the world tonight - wondering, praying, that somehow we can fix this problem that leaves people waiting for trains for ten minutes.
All we are saaaaaying, is don't wait for traaiiins...
May 21, 2012 at 9:35 p.m.
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The wait times at 5 points are horrible. I understand the need for trains - but that intersection is a poorly designed nightmare.
May 21, 2012 at 9:32 p.m.
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Purrmaid
I agree. I have seen some amazing artwork.
May 21, 2012 at 6:49 p.m.
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First it was the Interstate traffic - now it's the railroads - Steve Knox will NOT be happy with this development. But this won't hold him down - like he says in his blog - "They will still be fun trips but they will be guarded".
May 21, 2012 at 6:40 p.m.
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It sucks but you will have to wait.
It does concern me about an ER situation though.
saxcat- if they left on time w/o a train they would be on time. If there was a train they would be late. So, if this occurs often they need to leave everyday 15 minutes earlier just incase there was (actually) a train.
It sucks when you are already running late then to top it off there is a train then you are really late. Maybe this is what you mean. Already late and blame it on the train?
It is hard to get on HWY 14 by K & W w/o a train. NOBODY would dare let you in because they would get someplace 1 second later.
May 21, 2012 at 5:54 p.m.
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Quick somebody form a "no more trains unite" group so we can get them stopped as well. Deal with it people !!!!
May 21, 2012 at 5:47 p.m.
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I really don't mind the trains because I know the more that is being hauled means more business for them and our community. I'm not going to complain about that.
May 21, 2012 at 5:22 p.m.
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The one that crosses hwy 14 and Kennedy picks the worst times... lunch time and is sometimes 7-10 minutes...
May 21, 2012 at 5:03 p.m.
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I enjoy watching the trains, particularly those with graffiti....fascinating designs and colors. And I agree with Saxcat70. If you need to cross railroad tracks on your way to work or an event, just leave earlier.
May 21, 2012 at 4:32 p.m.
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Trains don't bother me, it's the trains around here that go by at 5 mph that bother me. Pick up the speed in town atleast
May 21, 2012 at 4:16 p.m.
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Dear employees....Please don't tell me that you were late to work because you got caught by a train. That only means you didn't leave in time to begin with.
May 21, 2012 at 4:15 p.m.
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Would you drivers who are complaining about rail traffic prefer to have all that freight put on our roads and highways instead? 1 rail car can carry the average weight of four full truck loads and some newer cars are even higher. A 100 car train keeps about 400 semis (min) off our roads. Also remember in most cases the railroad was there before the roads that are being blocked were built.
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