NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Vice-Mayor Greg Fast knows that there are things the railroads that serve Hutchinson should address, but there isn't a lot that the city can do to change their timetable.
"I know Dan Deming had a piece in the Hutch News this weekend," Fast said. "He talked about just painting the railroad bridge at 30th and K-61. We've already contacted the railroad to do that. We just wait on their timeframe, once again."
It's not that the railroad won't listen to the city, but they have little control over when any of the railroads can get to an individual project.
"We do have some connections," Fast said. "We have some engineers that have some phone numbers that can usually move the needle a little bit, especially on terrible crossings. Again, we do the best we can. We deal with a lot of different government agencies. For lack of a better way of saying it, we all have to play nice together."
It's also frustrating for drivers when streets are blocked by trains, but there really isn't much that can be done in those cases from a local perspective.
"I was just talking to State Rep. Joe Siewert the other morning at the Fair," Fast said. "We were talking about the lobbying that went into, the trains are about twice as long as they ever used to be. It's causing some issues in the county and obviously, it causes issues here in Hutchinson. The good news is, we won't be rebuilding the bridge over the railroad tracks on the Woodie Seat Freeway. That bridge is good. We're leaving that. That should not disrupt any rail service or any of that."
There is a court case still in the system to decide whether or not states can regulate how long a stopped train may block a grade crossing. If the lower court ruling is allowed to stand, they won't be able to do that at all.
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