By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Jackson Township Trustees are tired of trains blocking their rail crossings, and trucks ripping up their roads.
The CSX intermodal hub in southern Wood County has caused the township and its residents a great burden – and brought no benefits, according to the trustees.
Jackson Township Trustees Greg Panning, Brendyn George and Matt Sheeks took their concerns to the Wood County Commissioners on Tuesday. Their visit came on the heels of the announcement that a warehouse complex is planned next to the CSX hub site – which will only make matters worse for the township.
“Our township is cut in half when CSX tries to block all our crossings,” Panning said. “There are times when every crossing is blocked” in the township at once.
Those blockages make it difficult for residents, farm traffic and emergency services to get where they need to go. Even the state route through the township – Ohio 235 – is frequently blocked by trains that can measure up to three miles long, Panning said.
Initially Jackson Township officials were told by CSX that if the township closed Rangeline Road, the railroad wouldn’t block other roads in Jackson Township.
“Boy, did we get buffaloed,” Panning said. “It’s a daily thing and all day long.”
Both the fire and EMS in the township are located south of the tracks.
“If you live on the north side of the tracks, you pray it can get there,” Panning said.
“It’s a huge problem. I know the residents are frustrated,” he said.
In addition to blocking roads, the CSX hub has created a great deal of truck traffic. Though the rail hub sits in Henry Township, many of the trucks head west and break up roads in Jackson Township.
Last year, Jackson Township spent $100,000 – a third of its budget – on repaving Weston Road. Within about six months, that road was destroyed by truck traffic looking for a way around the trains.
And that’s just a portion of the 79 miles of roads the township is responsible for maintaining.
“Needles Road is destroyed,” Panning added.
When the rail hub opened in 2007, local officials were told it would generate traffic of about 75 trucks a day – and most of that would head east toward Interstate 75. But Jackson Township to the west is seeing about 175 trucks a day from the site, according to the trustees.
“We are not designed for the infrastructure,” Panning said. Jackson Township’s budget primarily comes from property taxes on agricultural acreage. That isn’t enough to take care of roads chewed up by steady truck traffic, he said.
“Our taxpayers are paving for the damage, and all the others are reaping the benefits,” Panning said.
And now that more development is proposed near the CSX hub site, that will only make matters worse, he added.
“What are we doing?” Panning said. “I’m curious why we want to bring more, without fixing what we already have.”
Infrastructure money has gone to Henry Township, where the rail hub sits – but not to neighboring Jackson Township, where traffic to and from the west travels, he said.
“Our township can’t support this. If not, we’ll have to go with stone roads,” he said. “There are trucks all day long.”
The trustees feel the burden on their township has been ignored.
“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.” The needs of the township have been sacrificed for economic development, Panning said.
“I’m not saying progress isn’t warranted,” he said. But it shouldn’t be at the expense of the rural neighbors, he added.
The trustees found out about the proposed warehouse complex from news reports.
“We feel left in the dark about it,” Panning said.
The county commissioners agreed to talk with the Ohio Department of Transportation about the problems with blocked crossings. When the CSX hub first opened, ODOT put in an overpass on Liberty Hi Road in Henry Township. That has helped, but it is too narrow for farm equipment, Panning explained.
The trustees asked for a traffic study to determine how many cars are diverted due to blocked crossings. An overpass on Route 235 would help relieve the problem, they said.
Commissioner Doris Herringshaw said they would contact ODOT, local state representatives, TMACOG and CSX about the problem.
“We’ll see what we can do,” Herringshaw said. “We do understand your frustration.”
And Jackson Township officials will be included in the discussion, Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar said.
“We’ll invite everyone to the table,” Kalmar said.
