A long stretch of railroad cars are stopped on the tracks running along U.S. 33 in Dunlap near many businesses Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Trains have been stopping for long stretches of time causing issues for residents on the north side of the tracks and businesses on the south side of the tracks. (Jennifer Shephard/The Elkhart Truth)
Since Shawn Kohn moved to Dunlap 14 years ago, he’s come to accept the high volume of noisy trainsthat journey the tracks along U.S. 33.
But in recent months, driving in the area has turned into a high-anxiety game of finding a railroad crossing that isn’t blocked by a motionless train.
“I never expect a train crossing to be open in Dunlap, and that's a situation that has dramatically reduced our quality of life,” he wrote in an email Monday, Sept. 22. “I can't even take my children to school, run a quick errand or go anywhere in this area without anxiety about how long the commute may actually be.”
Kohn and other Dunlap residents say they’re reaching a breaking point with the frequency of trains that are stopping on the tracks at railroad crossings, sometimes for hours at a time.
The Facebook page Take Back Dunlap has become an outlet for some of them to vent and post pictures of traffic snarls caused by motionless train cars.
Law enforcement getting involved
According to Indiana state law, trains can’t block travel at a grade crossing for more than 10 minutes, unless the railway has no control over the situation.
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