LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – Revving up his engine and hitting the gas fast over the railroad tracks: it’s the risk Adam Anson must take every day to get to his home in Cecilia, Kentucky.
“From the time you think maybe you can see a train, you've got maybe 15 or 20 feet. So, you've got to go from 25 miles an hour to zero or you're going to get hit by a train,” Anson explained, showing WHAS11 News the dangerous crossing on Eastview Road.
Drivers must get up a steep hill on a gravel drive and are met immediately by the train tracks. There are no crossing gates, no lights and no bells to let you know if a train is coming.
Anson said that even with the radio off and windows down, it's tough to hear that horn.
“The track is so much higher than your vehicle when you're coming up, the sound just goes right over your head,” he explained.
“You just have to guess if there's a train or not and hope there's not every time,” explained his neighbor, Seth Duren.
Duren is only 17-years-old and was hit by the train just over a month ago.
“I just got to the top and it was there. You can't slow down on the railroad track,” he said.
The train missed his truck but got the trailer that was attached. The lawnmower on the trailer was thrown more than 20 yards. Seth said he is okay, but it was too close of a call.
“A second sooner and my neighbor's grandson would've been killed,” Anson said. “He comes back here every week to visit, and I would've had to live with that forever.”
It's been less than two weeks since a high school math teacher in Grayson County was hit and killed by a train. It was another dangerous spot with no crossing arms and no lights to warn you a train is close.
Paducah and Louisville Railway runs the tracks at both crossings. A spokesperson sent WHAS11 news this statement:
“Rail carriers do not decide what type of warning devices, passive or active, are placed at a crossing. Those devices are designed to control traffic and their need is determined by the governmental entity (city, county, or state typically) that owns and controls the roadway. After that agency determines a need for those devices they enter into an agreement with the railroad to install them and maintain them.
Hardin County officials told WHAS11 News the crossing on Eastview Road is in the hands of the state highway division.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet told WHAS11 News that it would cost about $250,000 to install gates, lights and bells. A spokesperson told WHAS11 News they plan to look into adding advanced warning signs for drivers as they approach the crossing at the top of the hill.
“With nearly 1,500 crossings in the state and $1.8 million in annual railway improvement funds, every year crossings are evaluated and prioritized based on multiple safety factors to ensure the most critical needs are addressed,” Naitore Djigbenou said in a statement.
Anson said he is certain that someone will get hurt if this crossing is not fixed.
“I'm not asking for much. All I want is, even a simple light. I asked them for a mirror, even a mirror to where you can see behind you,” he said.
“The KYTC maintains the road leading to the track and the railroad company is responsible for the actual crossing,” Djigbenou said in that statement.