WWW arkcity.net

Commission cross over railroad crossing

By JEANNE RICHARDSON
Staff Writer

The County Commission has agreed to begin legal proceedings against South Kansas & Oklahoma (SKO) Railroad concerning the condition of two railroad crossings in Cowley County owned by the railroad. One is on Cowley 4 in New Salem, and the other is on Cowley 1, a mile east of New Salem.

County Engineer Dale Steward determined that the crossings were "not in compliance due to deep potholes that have developed adjacent to and between the steel rails," according to a memo he sent to the county attorney. Steward, along with the county commission, then requested that county attorney Christopher Smith give notice to the railroad company, with a penalty for not complying.

A number of public complaints were made in 2006 to the county engineer's office about the rough and uneven condition of the tracks at the crossing, and the engineer contacted the railroad by phone in September 2006 and again in April 2006, Steward said. More complaints were heard from the public in June 2007, so Steward asked Smith to find out what statute would provide recourse for the problem.

"It's been a problem for quite a while, and it's getting worse. We've had a lot of complaints about it," Commissioner Gary Wilson said. Wilson also said that the commission has contacted the railroad company by letter, and they had not responded.

"I guess this is the only avenue we have left, so we're going to pursue it. We want the citizens of our county to be safe," said Wilson.

"The county can't fix the crossings itself," County Administrator Leroy Alsup said. "We would take on liability if we did that. The commission has been trying to work through this problem administratively, asking the county engineer to communicate with the railroad. It doesn't seem to have worked. So the commission made a motion in this week's meeting to take legal action."

While nothing has been formally filed yet, said Smith, a letter has been prepared to send to SKO Railroad "putting them on notice" and giving them 15 or 30 days to complete the work on the crossings. "If they don't comply, then the county will go ahead and file suit," said Smith.

Long-time New Salem resident Warren Sickles said that the crossing has been in bad shape for around five or six years.

"It's been quite a little while, an ongoing problem," said Sickles.

Dick Vaughters, who also lives in the area, said that he and his wife use the crossing "on an average of four times a day," and "you have to go about four or five miles an hour over it."

Vaughters said he has talked to the crews when they were nearby working on the rails and has also called the railroad. "Nothing happened," he said.

The three Kansas statutes cited by the county engineer are 66-227, 66-228 and 66-229. Statute 66-227 states that it is the duty of the railroad company to maintain a crossing that goes across a "public highway, county highway or township road ... that may be necessary to make a safe crossing." Statute 66-229 further states that it is the duty of the county engineer and road supervisor "to see that this act is complied with ..." and the "duty of the county attorney ... to enforce this act." Statute 66-228 says that if the corporation fails to comply, they will be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Pat Cedeno, chief operating officer for the central region of SKO, said that the New Salem crossing is on their list, and that they are in the process of "prioritizing" it.

"As you can imagine," Cedeno said, "what we're faced with is trying to recover from the recent flooding, trying to keep the railroad running and also addressing safety concerns."

Cedeno could not say when SKO would address the New Salem crossing, but he said that they would "make every effort to improve that situation."