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Nov 12, 2009 6:16 pm US/Central
Fort Worth Train Crossings Leave No Way Out
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
It's a worry some Fort Worth business owners have every day: will help be able to get to them if there is an emergency? The problem – the businesses are surrounded, literally, by busy railroad tracks. The trains often block access to the area for hours at a time.
The area is just northeast of downtown Fort Worth between Interstate-30 and Northside Drive. The rail lines bend around it uniting on the south side.
The area is home to some light industry and a small neighborhood. For those living and working there, the only way in and out is by crossing railroad tracks and sometimes, because of parked trains, there is no way out.
Wednesday, for instance, two trains parked – one on the east side of the area and one on the west. Time ticked by. Trucks with deliveries stopped and waited to get in, while people between the tracks were stuck.
One of the business owners dialed 911 to have them call the railroad companies. The caller told the 911 operator, "It's been there since two o'clock. And there's no way to access in or out of here at all." In the meantime, pedestrians crossed through the parked train cars to get by. After more than two hours, one train finally moved.
Fort Worth has one of the busiest, most congested, rail intersections in America called Tower 55. Everyday more than 100 trains need to get through the intersection, often backing up trains for miles in all directions.
People working in the area worry that being blocked in will be problem if there are life and death troubles. "If we did have a medical emergency, wow, or even a fire, we'd be kinda dead in the water over here," said business owner Gary Beavers.
North Texas stands a good chance of receiving federal grants to help with the problem, but until then the crossings are a daily worry for some.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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