Just west of Maeystown at the rural intersection of Bluff and Outlet roads, a stretch of railroad has already seen three separate crashes this year.

Monroe County Engineer Aaron Metzger said there have been a total of seven crashes at that intersection over the last six years.

Maeystown Fire Chief Lynden Prange said his department has responded to 10 incidents at that location since 2010.

Brian Edler, who lives right next to the intersection, couldn’t give a precise figure of all the vehicles he’s helped get clear of the railroad tracks over the years.

From the north, the railroad tracks travel parallel to Bluff Road just before cutting across right as Bluff Road intersects with Outlet Road.

Coming from the west, the right turn onto Bluff Road is just a little bit wider than a right turn onto the tracks – a situation that isn’t helped by the hill that an unsuspecting driver has to get over to cross the tracks.

Edler described the issue with the intersection as the road around the tracks being too tight.

“The biggest problem with it is with the road being at such an angle to the tracks … the railroad needs a wider crossing there,” Edler said. “And it needs to be extended to the north and south.”

Edler said he’s seen plenty of vehicles get stopped on the tracks over the years – including a past July 4 holiday weekend where he says he saw such an issue for four or five days in a row.

While Edler feels the frequency of accidents and issues at that intersection could be amended by county highway workers, he also recognized the difficulty that would come with making such a substantial change along the tracks.

“I know the poor county, they ain’t allowed to do anything like that otherwise I know they would because they don’t want the bad publicity that it is getting,” Edler said.

Prange and Metzger, however, both say Monroe County and Union Pacific Railroad have done as much as they can to make the intersection safe and clear for drivers.

Prange was insistent that the problems with the intersection ultimately come down to driver awareness. 

Of his department’s 10 calls to the tracks in more than a decade, he said one was due to mechanical failure while the rest were simply driver error.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, when they get up on top of that crossing, they think they have to turn and then naturally they run off the crossing into the rails,” Prange said.

Metzger cited similar information. Of his recorded crashes over six years, six occurred at night and five involved teenage drivers, with the most common contributor being “driving skills.”

According to Metzger, this intersection has already received some attention from Monroe County and Union Pacific. 

The railroad company added small delineators at the end of the crossing planks at crossings throughout Monroe County after Metzger reached out two years ago.

Metzger added that this failed to stop the crashes at the Outlet/Bluff intersection.

Metzger also said that earlier this year, the Monroe County Highway Department added painted stripes along Bluff Road near the tracks to “help channelize the motorists through the crossing within the railroad crossing planks.”

According to Metzger, no further adjustments are planned for this intersection going forward. 

“At this time, there are no plans by the county to perform any major improvements at this crossing,” Metzger said. “But, I will continue to consider and discuss with Union Pacific Railroad solutions that may help motorists navigate this intersection.”

As Prange suggests, drivers should strive to be more cognizant of the tracks there. 

Prange also recommended that any drivers who do find themselves stuck on the tracks should call 911 immediately so the emergency dispatcher can reach out to hopefully halt the train in time.