Who's to blame for RR crossing fiasco?
NS offers explanation but no apology; city hall cussed out
MUNCIE — “How many of you knew that every railroad track was going to be torn up in town … before it was torn up? Do you care about that? Does that matter to you?”
Phil Hoffman, assistant dean of media and general manager of Ball State PBS and Indiana Public Radio, asked those questions during a Constitution Day panel discussion on the necessity of local news outlets — and “how the loss of information to residents can create dangerous news deserts.”
At the time of the Sept. 16 journalism talk, the replacement of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) railroad tracks through Muncie was the talk of the town.
City hall was bombarded with calls, some of which were so profane and abusive that they prompted city employees to hang up.
The project’s widespread closure of railroad crossings triggered hundreds of social network complaints. Motorists called the decision to “shut down an entire city” unprecedented, “insane,” a “nightmare,” a “mystery,” “ridiculous,” dangerous, “unjustified,” damaging and idiotic.
“The railroad closures in Muncie have been creating havoc for citizens and our public safety agencies,” Delaware County Indiana Emergency Management reported on Sept. 20, when it posted an online map of the closedowns. “We are trying to keep track of the closures and openings so our agencies know the best routes around the closures.”
Hundreds of motorists voiced their anger and frustration on social media, including the lack of detour signs; inadequate notice to the public; and lack of “rough crossing ahead” signs at crossings torn up in advance of rail replacement.
Here are specific kinds of things people were angry about:
I wondered why the heck all the railroad crossings were tore up. But why the hell didn't they put signs up saying rough crossing? If you didn't live around here you wouldn't know that the tracks were messed up. I almost tore my car up going over them the first day they were tore up.
We went across some tracks yesterday, got a hip, neck and back adjustment, teeth chattered and blew 2 tires. Welcome to Muncie
Are they coming back around to finish this project? They may have put down new stuff to help themself but they made the crossing horrible for vehicles. Just wondering if someone is following up on this project?
Tearing up all the railroad intersections at once but not filling them until 4 weeks later (clearly even longer now) has been a nightmare. I don't complain a lot but this is absolutely ridiculous. If the job couldn't be completed the same week … it should have been left alone.
When I call (NS) it just rings & rings with no answer & no way to leave a message. Surprise surprise. Do they even employ anyone at the local office?
I had to go all the way to Tillotson to get around yesterday. And when I got there the cross arms were going up and down randomly, which caused a huge traffic jam. I can't imagine what emergency response times are right now with all this.
There are more roads closed than what is on this list … This is getting ridiculous and dangerous not being able to get around Muncie
I see no detour signs. I’ve been driving around for 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get home
Detour signs? All I've seen is road closed signs. Did they put them up in the last 5 minutes?
Was a mystery trying to get to work today
The only warning the city gave to the residents was a post on Facebook and announcements on WLBC. BSU has an entire communication system. Was the information communicated to the kids who most likely have no idea how to get around town outside of campus?
I fail to understand the city of Muncie admin's inability to have an open line of communication with the railroad company simply for the safety of their citizens!
On its Facebook page, the city of Muncie responded: “It is a constant frustration for us, as well.”
So, who’s to blame? The media? City hall? NS?
On Sept. 15, the city said on Facebook that “we have posted information as quickly as we receive it, and have contacted the railroad repeatedly to try to get better information, but we have received incorrect information frequently and have also been left out of the loop. The information we do know we put out immediately, and we put out an initial press release when we first learned about the closures, but it was not run by local press.”
I recently asked to see the press release, which was issued on Sept. 9. It reported:
Norfolk Southern to Close Roads Monday and Tuesday
“Representatives from Norfolk Southern have notified the City that they will be closing six roads to complete rail replacement work. The following roads will be closed at the crossings on Monday the 12th (tentative) and Tuesday the 13th: Walnut, Lincoln, Ohio, Hackley, Liberty, Monroe. The closures will allow Norfolk Southern to complete the crossings upgrades begun earlier this month. The public is advised to plan travel accordingly, and can reach out to Norfolk Southern for more information.”
Michele Owen, city hall’s spokeswoman, told me the news release was sent to The Star Press, Muncie Journal, WLBC, Woof Boom, IPR, Ball State news outlets, several local bloggers/activists, City Council members, Wish TV, and Fox 59.
“This was the only information we had from the railroad, which turned out to be incorrect,” Owen said of the Sept. 9 news release.
According to NS, it notified the city of the upcoming rail replacement on Aug. 2 and also at earlier times this year.
One local resident on Facebook quoted an NS employee as saying the railway company had met with city officials about the project more than a year ago, “so Muncie knew for a YEAR this would be happening and didn't relay the message until last week.”
The city told the complainant: “This is almost right! We were told that the repairs would need to be done, and a tentative time schedule. We were not given exact dates, or which roads would be closed when.
“We were then told earlier this month that four or five roads would be closed for a few days, and that those crossings would be reopened before more crossings were closed. This information was related a few days before the closings were supposed to happen, and we weren't even told which roads would be closed (just that it would be four or five). It took a lot of follow up on our end to get any more information than that, and then many more crossings ended up closing all at once.
“So yes, we did know that there would be repairs this fall. From a practical standpoint of what roads are closed, when, and for how long, we know exactly as much as the general public has.”
The city told another complainant who criticized the city for not mounting a public awareness campaign several months before the fiasco that “we knew they would be doing some sort of repairs this fall, but none of the specific, necessary information (which crossings, when, how long, etc.). When we have gotten information from them, often it has been incorrect (or out of date). We would have loved to have a 3 month public awareness campaign, but we just didn't have the right information.”
Two days before the city’s press release on Sept. 9, Mayor Dan Ridenour warned in an online video community update that NS would start replacing the railroad line in five days. “Be aware,” he said. Every crossing would be impacted, but NS would not be closing the whole city at once, just in sections, he said. “We told them we don’t want the whole city closed,” but “we don’t have a lot of control,” he added.
In an email, Owen, the city hall spokesman, summed up the public relations nightmare as follows:
“We have received mixed comments — some people have been very understanding, and a few have even reached out to say they appreciate the updates, and respect the city for keeping our cool under the barrage of negative comments. There has been quite a barrage. We have received a much higher call volume, and at times our staff has had to hang up on callers for shouting, profanity, and abusive language. "You don't understand how bad it is" seems to be a common refrain, even though we live here, too, and have been affected in the same way!
“Online, it seems that the common theme is "The City shouldn't have done this/allowed this to happen." When we explain that we don't have jurisdiction, that sometimes turns into incredulous frustration at the railroads, and sometimes people seem to refuse to believe it and assume that we're lying about something. "Just admit that you messed everything up" is a common theme as well.
“For future scenarios, we are still discussing how we can handle things if we are caught off guard to the same extreme. We will do our best to put together a plan, although we believe the railroad also has incentive to be more communicative in the future. They have also received a lot of harassment, and hopefully will be receptive to collaborate with us far in advance.”
Click here to see video of how the NS dual-rail gang operates
NS told me the project was undertaken by a one-of-a-kind, dual-rail gang of about 100 personnel and dozens of machines. It’s reportedly the only such crew in North America that can replace two rails at the same time.
Each new rail is nearly 1,500 feet long, all in one piece. That’s 500 yards long or about three-tenths of a mile, which is why multiple crossings must be closed in a town.
Although “only” 1,500 feet of rail is being replaced at one time, the 100-person crew can stretch out over a mile of track at a time, both ahead of and behind the workers laying new tracks.
Work being performed over the entire mile includes removing spikes and brackets, moving old rail to the side, lifting new rail onto ties, grinding/sanding down ties so the surface is level, installing new spikes and brackets, gluing, and heating/cooling the rail.
The dual gang can do in a matter of days what it would take a single gang weeks, NS spokesman Connor Spielmaker told me.
The method used through Muncie is also safer for train travel because it limits the number of welds (and potential weak points in the rail) to every 1,500 feet.
Crossings had to be torn up in advance of the new rail being laid down because the 1,500-feet-long sections of new rail were delivered by train to the site and laid down next to the old rail. To do so required the new rail to be “buried” in trenches carved into the crossings next to the old rail.
Does NS owe Muncie residents an apology?
“They are certainly owed an explanation as to what this work entails and why the impact is so large and involved so many crossings,” Spielmaker said.
Though made of steel, railroad tracks eventually need to be replaced.
“We appreciate that this is not the most convenient thing in the world, and we appreciate that the public made their voices heard,” Spielmaker went on. “We hear you. This is important work that has to be done as quickly and safely as possible. We try our best to keep in communication with local government. It’s a massive amount of work that has to be done in a small period of time, and sometimes it has a bigger impact than folks may have thought. All we can do is work as quickly and safely as possible.”
While the project was annoying, it had to be done. Railroads move 40% of the nation’s economy without tax dollars while curbing the number of semi tractor-trailers on roads, streets and highways, Spielmaker added.
News media outlets hopped on the railroad story after learning of the public outrage:
Rail work snarls traffic from Muncie to Yorktown as commutes remain a mess
Railroad crossing closures cause headaches for Muncie drivers, first responders
Frustration mounts in Muncie as railroad construction closes crossings
Color me impressed that you were actually able to speak with someone at NS. Good work. It's a shame NS did not communicate that very vital information before all this started. It would have eliminated speculation and misinformation being spread like wildfire. I believe the city, when realizing the failures, could have stepped in to provide assistance with signage, etc. Is it their responsibility? Technically, no. But it appears Ridenour had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. And it does show that we have a news problem. Most people have no idea what is going on at any given time. Great reporting. Thanks again.
Do you have any thoughts about the extent to which the Town of Yorktown should have been notified of these happenings and perhaps taken some steps to help as well? Someone took down one half of the barricades on 500 one day. I was the next car waiting to go through. I didn't know someone had done it illegally. YPD came up, yelled that the road is closed, put the barricades back up and was obviously none too happy about it. This impacted everyone. Including a community outside of Muncie.