Session set on deadly rail crossing in Ashdown

A fatal crash last fall at the Locke Street train crossing in Ashdown has led the city to push for improvements to a five-crossing railroad corridor.

A session is scheduled for 5 p.m. April 14 at Ashdown City Hall to discuss construction proposals, Ashdown Mayor Carroll McLarty said. It has been rescheduled twice because of icy road conditions.

It will be conducted by the city, representatives from Kansas City Southern Railway and officials from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

The public is invited to attend, McLarty said.

Since 2009, there have been four deaths at the crossing. The Locke Street crossing is complicated because three streets merge - Locke, Stuart and Front streets. A report in 2011 by the Highway Department said 3,837 vehicles on average travel through the Locke Street crossing daily.

The latest Ashdown resident to die at the crossing was Bobbie Calloway, 41, who was killed Nov. 23.

Kansas City Southern Railway issued a statement in December about the fatality, saying it would partner with the city and state to solve the problems with the railroad and vehicle crossings in Ashdown city limits.

“In spite of two failed attempts, the Kansas City Southern Railway Co. is still ready to partner with the city of Ashdown and the state of Arkansas in connection with the five railroad crossings in Ashdown,” said Doniele Carlson, assistant vice president of corporate communications and community affairs for the railroad. “In an earlier offer, KCSR offered the city a monetary incentive per crossing closed. The city could have used this money for any purpose of their choosing. Representatives of KCSR and the state have participated in public hearings on the offers; however, the city has taken no action on either offer.”

The Highway Department will be represented by Steve Weston, the railroad crossing coordinator for the department, said Allen Pepper, director of public safety for the railroad.

“The crossings are still dangerous. People are still ignoring the safety rules. We’re trying to protect our people from ourselves. I recently saw a motorist cut around a train to save 30 seconds to a minute. They were challenging the train,” McLarty said. “The citizens said ‘no’ to closing the Locke Street crossings in earlier meetings, and it’s the heaviest traveled.”