WABBASEKA, Ark. (AP) - The first time Myra Edwards recalls someone getting hit by a train in Wabbaseka, she was about 11 and on her way to school. A man was struck early one morning driving his truck to work.
“It was a big deal, because we had to cross those tracks to go to school, because he got hit and dragged down the highway,” Edwards recalled.
That was roughly a half-century ago, but deadly collisions between trains and automobiles are still worrisomely common in Wabbaseka, a town of about 250. The most recent occurred July 27, when a train struck a car carrying three women crossing the tracks between Garrett Lane and U.S. 79. Two of the women died, and a third was badly injured.
The next day, Edwards, who is the town’s mayor, and Assistant Mayor Edward Spears circulated a petition among the townspeople. They gathered hundreds of signatures and on Aug. 4 sent them to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s office with a request to install railroad crossing gates and signals at the crossing where the accident occurred. They also sent letters to the Arkansas Department of Transportation, Congressman Bruce Westerman and State Senator Stephanie Flowers.
The letters laid out a stark reality. More than 20 people had died at the crossing since 1970, Edwards wrote, including four in the last year.
“This crossing has been a problem since I was a little girl and I am now 60 years old,” Edwards wrote to Flowers. “There are no arms or lights at this crossing and to get to the track is a very narrow rock road (both sides from U.S. 79 to Garrett Lane). We do have problems with the trains traveling too fast through this small town (maybe 1500 ft. from end to end) and many times not blowing their horn before they actually get into town.”
Crossing gates and signals were installed in 1998 at a crossing further south in town at Paw Paw Road and U.S. 79, after approximately nine documented deaths, she wrote.
“Forgive me if I sound too emotional,” Edwards wrote. “I am. I knew these young ladies and their families. They were going about their daily routines getting to work, when killed. They all have small children that will be forever separated from their mothers. We have known for a while that this particular crossing is unsafe.”
Within a week, Edwards said she heard back from the offices of Westerman and Hutchinson. A representative for the governor told her that the governor wanted railroad crossing gates and signals at the crossing, that they had contacted the relevant agencies and that they were trying to speed up the process. Edwards hopes the safety equipment can be erected within a matter of weeks.
“They said they’re moving quickly,” Edwards said. “Now, Congressman’s Westerman’s office told me they couldn’t give me a date, but they felt like it would be very soon.”
Representatives for Hutchinson and the Highway Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday afternoon. Town officials have also been in touch with Union Pacific Railroad, Edwards said, and trains are now blowing their horns before approaching Wabbaseka. Asked in an email Friday about claims that trains had not previously blown their horns before approaching Wabbaseka, Union Pacific representative Jeff DeGraff said he could not confirm that.
“Per regulation, our crews are required to sound the train horn at each public grade crossing,” DeGraff wrote. “We have no evidence to suggest that this hasn’t been the case through that area.”
The Pine Bluff Commercial reports that in a letter dated Aug. 22, Scott Bennett, director of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, told Edwards “we have been assured by (Union Pacific Railroad) that they will move this project ahead of others and perform the work as soon as they can fabricate the equipment and schedule an installation crew.”
Edwards said she is glad to see the state agencies acting quickly and appreciates their cooperation, because her first priority is to get the problem at the crossing fixed. In addition to crossing signals and gates, she said the gravel road at the crossing needs to be leveled, widened and paved. Currently it is steep and barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other, she said. On either side there are steep ditches.
Those elements often distract drivers who cross the railroad, she said. After the most recent accident the Highway Department partially cut a stand of thick trees next to the crossing, but the remaining trees still make trains difficult to see coming. Another section of Bennett’s letter, however, included information that concerned the mayor. The letter revealed that the crossing “was identified as needing improvements in early 2016.”
“As a result, the Arkansas Highway Commission approved Minute Order 2016-093 at their Sept. 14, 2016 meeting authorizing the Department to work with (Union Pacific Railroad) to install flashing lights, bells, and gates,” Bennett wrote. “Subsequently, (Union Pacific Railroad) developed a plan and cost estimate for the improvements and entered into an agreement with the Department to accomplish the work.”
Bennett wrote that a work order was issued to Union Pacific on July 26, 2017, one day before the fatal crash.
“You know, that bothered me, when I read that in that letter,” Edwards said. “I know somebody’s covering their behind with that. They approved that the day before the ladies got killed on the tracks. I’m trying not to bicker, because it’s not going to help them any. I’m just trying to get the tracks fixed.”
Clay Jeter, a farmer with land east of Wabbaseka, said he looks forward to the crossing having safety equipment. His mother, Betty Jeter, died on Feb. 18, 2016, at the crossing when a train struck the vehicle she was driving. She was 86.
“I hope they put something up there that’ll make it so you know they’re coming,” Jeter said. “Or at least block people from driving over (the tracks). A stop sign just doesn’t do it. And we need it open, because we take all our farm equipment through there. It’d make it a lot safer.”
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Information from: Pine Bluff Commercial, https://www.pbcommercial.com
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