After a Ripley community voiced concerns over trains parking and blocking a neighborhood on Klondike Road, another community just miles away said they are having the same problem.
Sara Stoll and her family live on Forest Avenue in Westfield. It's a dead-end road with train tracks crossing over, but when Norfolk Southern trains park on the tracks, Stoll said it blocks her family and neighbors in for hours at a time.
"And sometimes you'll get 20 minutes and then sometimes it's hours and most of the times when they stop it is literally hours," Stoll said.
Since she moved to this dead-end street in 2013, she's dealt with this problem.
"When we first moved it was an issue off and on and through the years it just continuously gets worse," she explained.
Not too long ago Stoll said a train was parked one evening on the tracks. When she got up for work the same train was still there.
"I had call work and say, 'Hey I can't make it because I really had no way out,'" she explained.
This problem is even impacting her kids who are sometimes late to school.
"And then on my birthday I wanted my friends to come over and as she was coming down, there was a stopped train so she had to go home and it was like there the whole time," Stoll's daughter Taylor said.
At the railroad crossing, there's a sign that provides a number if there's an emergency or problem. The number will connect you to a dispatcher with Norfolk Southern. Stoll said when she calls the number she's never received any help or any answers. Now the Stoll family is hoping for some answers, for an issue that's a major safety concern.
"It's scary for me especially knowing I have the children like if anything were to ever happen to them at my house and I couldn't get 911 down there, emergency vehicles," Stoll explained, "What am I supposed to do?"
7 News' Kristen Mirand brought this to the attention of Norfolk Southern's director of government relations. Mirand was told the train company suggested Chautauqua County build an access road or bridge for these communities.
"Tens of millions of dollars for that is ridiculous," Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said, "It's just a blatant disregard of rural communities."
Mirand has reached out to several state and federal lawmakers to bring this problem to their attention
Congressman Nick Langworthy said in a statement to Mirand:
“Norfolk Southern’s actions pose a serious public safety risk and appear to be in violation of state law. I have had productive conversations with my partners in government and for the safety and well-being of the residents affected by this problem, I have urged the railroad to come to the table with a realistic solution that solves this decades-long problem. I support the state’s right to take legal action against them if they don’t move swiftly to make a change that will allow residents egress from their homes.”
"It's very, very worrying. I worry about myself and everybody else in this situation," Stoll said.
This community, troubled by trains, is holding out hope for a solution.
"Stop making them stop make them go stop somewhere," Taylor said.
