Rare stoplight keeps motorists off train tracks

The small sedan POWELL — approaches the train tracks just west of the center of town when a traffic light, directly above the tracks, turns red.

The motorist stops — in the center of the rails — pauses, then backs up and watches as the light quickly turns green. She shifts to drive and continues on.

Curiously, the nearest trains were miles away.

This awkward interaction occurs daily in Powell, and is caused by a new signal that’s designed to prevent heavy traffic from trapping cars on the tracks. Pavement sensors a block ahead of the tracks detect stopped traffic and trip the light. In downtown Powell, along Olentangy Street (Route 750), that happens often.

The so-called “queue-cutter” light was installed this past spring to prevent crashes with the dozen or so CSX trains that come through daily.

“Good drivers were getting stuck in a bad situation,” said Powell Police Chief Gary Vest, who installed a camera at the tracks to monitor backups. He also repeatedly sought help from the Ohio Rail Development Commission but was ignored — until a near-miss.

Captured the day before Thanksgiving 2013, the video shows cars on the tracks as a train approaches. Crossing arms come down and cars scramble to get away.

An SUV breaks through a pedestrian lane and narrowly misses getting hit by the train. The car ahead of the SUV stops, and two people get out and hug each other.

The video was just one reason the commission took notice, said Matt Dietrich, executive director of the rail commission.

“We reacted to his (Vest’s) concerns when we were made aware of them. I’m not going to argue with the police chief ’s view. I thought we were very responsive.”

There are more than 5,700 rail crossings in Ohio. Yet there have been just two “queue cutter” systems installed. The other is in Franklin County, along Route 161 in Linworth. Each costs about $100,000, paid with federal and state funds.

The rail commission uses federal risk-assessment data to rank Ohio’s most-dangerous railroad crossings. But those statistics don’t include a measure of backed-up traffic. The Powell crossing is the state’s 799th-most likely to be the site of a collision, although there have been none in decades. Instead, the state relies on public input.

“We take complaints from railroads, the public, even our own field staff who identify areas to look at,” Dietrich said.

Other crossings are being studied, Dietrich said, noting that the design might not be appropriate for all problem crossings. Removing turn lanes or adjusting existing traffic lights also could reduce backups.

“We now have both the tools and experience on how to address those issues that we didn’t have before,” he said. “It’s just happenstance that these are both located in central Ohio.”

Since the Powell queue-cutter light was installed, police have issued about a dozen tickets for running it, with many motorists citing confusion. One man didn’t understand its purpose. Others said they didn’t see it.

Jeffrey Turner was driving into town last month and stopped short of the tracks to let cars in front continue though the light was green.

As traffic cleared the light turned red.

“I waited and waited. I thought maybe it’s broken,” Turner said. “I thought: ‘It’s not an intersection. It’s the tracks.’ So I drove through.” That cost him $143. City spokeswoman Megan Canavan said Powell’s solution seems to work. “But If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s going to take time to adjust, to know what it is.”