Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer has spoken with Indiana Department of Transportation officials regarding looking into the possibility of installing railroad crossing gates to address safety concerns at Warsaw railroad crossings. Thallemer informed Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission during its meeting Wednesday that he contacted Norfolk-Southern railroad company regarding issues of trains stopping on the railroad tracks for extended periods of time, blocking vehicles from crossing the railroad tracks. Thallemer said the railroad company referred him to Indiana Department of Transportation, which is responsible for looking at the railroad crossings. Thallemer said INDOT officials visited Warsaw Wednesday afternoon and looked at railroad crossings. They looked at Winona Avenue, Market and Main Streets crossings to get information to determine whether railroad crossing gates are warranted at those intersections. They will discuss with their engineers if railroad crossings are needed. Norfolk-Southern representatives will attend a Michiana Area Council On Government meeting to address issues of trains stopping on tracks for extended periods of time in Indiana. Thallemer said he does not know if the city will be funded for railroad crossing gates, and INDOT will make the recommendation based on traffic counts. “If we have crossing gates then cars can’t pull into the path of trains for the trains to hit them, and then the accident is there holding up traffic for two hours,” Kip Shuter, traffic administrator said. When a train hits a car, safety personnel from Elkhart are called. They come to examine the train car by car and make sure the train is safe to move again. If it isn’t, it cannot be moved. Thallemer read an e-mail he received from Charles Carlson, INDOT, regarding the issue of trains stopping on local railroad tracks for extended periods of time. In the email, Carlson said the safety along the movement of the rails is important, and the road owner is responsible for traffic on the road. Highway departments pay the railroad to place safety equipment like gates on the railroad right of way. INDOT receives federal highway funds to install crossing gates.
