DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - More than two dozen residents in a suburban Des Moines neighborhood are anticipating limited access to schools, work or emergency services for hours at a time this spring because of idling railroad trains.
Wayne and Rita Brasel live near Avon Lake, between Des Moines and Carlisle, where Union Pacific Railroad cars have periodically blocked access to the neighborhood’s only road for years.
The Brasels told the Des Moines Register that the problem became worse when the Nebraska-based railroad built the Wind 2 Rail distribution center in 2017. Trains now park for several hours while workers load and unload wind blades and turbine parts.
The wind turbine transfers came to a halt for about two months from Christmas through most of February. But Union Pacific trains blocked the road for more than an hour earlier this month to off-load wind turbine parts, the Brasels said.
The railroad company had promised neighbors that the distribution facility would only be operational for 14 weeks in 2017, 20 weeks in 2019 and 26 weeks this year.
“They said they were going to run for 20 weeks in 2018, but it lasted eight months,” Wayne Brasel said. “That’s way more than just 20 weeks.”
Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South said the company was unaware of the issue with the distribution center.
“We want to be a good neighbor and we want to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused for the residents and businesses,” she said. “We are going to work with everyone on this.”
Under Iowa code, it’s illegal for a train to block a crossing for more than 10 minutes.
Phil Meraz, an Iowa Department of Transportation official, explained that state law is superseded by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1996, which states that only the federal government has the jurisdiction to govern the movement and speed of trains.
Polk County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith also said he didn’t know about the issue.
“If someone had told me that kids weren’t getting to school and people aren’t getting to work, then I’d be right on top of that immediately,” he said.
Hockensmith plans to work with the county attorney to see whether they have the authority to stop the railroad company from blocking the crossing.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
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