Goshen and New Paris emergency responders and motorists have a new tool to avoid blocked railroad crossings.
Blocked railroad crossings have long plagued drivers in southern Elkhart County. County commissioners have announced a solution.
Ten crossings that stretch from U.S. 6 north near Milford to downtown Goshen are now monitored by newly installed video cameras. Those cameras are linked to the website, blockedcrossings.com, where you can check and see in real time if a train is coming through.
The Elkhart Truth reports that county commissioner Brad Rogers led an effort to contract with Blocked Crossings LLC to install and maintain the equipment. When he was sheriff, Rogers had ticketed railroads for blocking crossings longer than 20 minutes, but a 2018 Supreme Court ruling prohibits that.
Paul Penrose is chief financial officer of the New Paris Telephone Company and president of the New Paris Chamber of Commerce. Penrose says the new tool will have the most impact on the crossings south of downtown. But he says it also will help the Jackson Township Fire Department’s New Paris station, where blocked crossings sometimes require split-second decisions on routes to take to emergencies.
"They have to service both sides of the railroad tracks so for them it's a tool they'll use to see if a railroad crossing is blocked, so that they can plan their route," Primrose said.
