DRY RIDGE, Ky. — Residents of a Dry Ridge development say trains frequently prevent them from entering or exiting their neighborhood.
“Usually, at least once to twice a week, you can sit here anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour,” said Jamie Wilson, whose home is impacted.
The tracks block Kenrick Place, which is the only road in and out of the development. Wilson estimates there are about 80 homes impacted.
“I'm worried something will happen,” she said. “Nobody will be able to get back there. What do we do if someone gets hurt?”
There are two tracks blocking the road, primarily operated by Norfolk Southern. The tracks merge into one track a bit further south. The second track allows trains to pull off the main track, so other trains can pass by.
“There's been a lot of times when we're at work and we come home and half of our community is sitting in their cars over at the church parking lot, just waiting and waiting to be able to get home,” Heather Faust said.
Both Wilson and Faust said the road is also occasionally blocked when crews arrive to work on the tracks. Last Thursday, both said the road was closed for hours.
“There was tons of people who didn't know when they went to go to work,” Faust said. “They couldn't go to work.”
The railroad tracks were built before the roads, said Grant County Road Supervisor Steve Tatum. Tatum said a developer built the roads sometime around the 1970s.
A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern told WCPO the railroad was actively working to find ways to cut down on the time trains are stopped in this location.
“We make every effort to avoid inconveniencing communities with a stopped train,” wrote Senior Communications Manager Connor Spielmaker in a statement. “Trains have to stop for a number of reasons, including congestion on the tracks or in yards, coordinating traffic with other railroads, federally-mandated crew rest time, power outages affecting train signal devices, or mechanical issues. Specific to this spot on our network, this is an area where trains pass.”
Spielmaker said that without infrastructure like this, trains would not be able to pass each other.
He said the railroad also partners with communities to identify short-term and permanent solutions such as overpasses and closing crossings, where it makes sense. He said Norfolk Southern also contributes funds directly to communities to help them apply for infrastructure grants.
Both Spielmaker and Tatum agreed that building a new road will solve the problem.
The spot is on the state’s radar for a future project. In both 2020 and 2022, it was listed on the state’s SHIFT (Strategic Highway Investment Formula for Tomorrow) priority list. The list ranks projects previously identified by state and local transportation leaders by using a priority formula.
Neighbors are hopeful funding will be available for a road project in the area soon.
“I like my home, I like where I'm at,” Wilson said. “I don't want to deal with it, but I also don't want to leave my home.”
