Bartholomew County government is facing a serious problem for some of its residents, one that will get worse without action.
Dawson Street, which serves the Van Blaricum subdivision south of the county fairgrounds and west of State Road 11 just outside city boundaries, is a dead end with only one entry point. The problem is that limited access becomes nonexistent at times because train traffic blocks the only point of entry and exit.
The problem will only get worse, however. Longer train delays are expected at Louisville & Indiana railroad crossings in Bartholomew County later this year. That’s when CSX, lessor of the tracks, begins increasing the frequency, length and speed of freight trains traveling on the rail line between Seymour and Indianapolis.
In an emergency, that can mean the difference between life and death. Former Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Director Ed Reuter raised such a concern in May 2015, when railroad repairs closed Dawson Street for an entire day.
Trains currently block all access to the neighborhood three to four times a week, Dawson Street resident Christina Kern wrote in a letter to the editor published June 9 in The Republic. She said the blockage has caused residents to be late for work and even lose their jobs. That’s unfortunate and cannot continue.
Also unfortunate is that the railroads are not expressing any ownership of the problem — missing out on a chance to be a good neighbor.
That means Bartholomew County must take ownership of the long-standing problem.
Some solutions have been proposed, such as extending Dawson Street west to County Road 150W, or constructing a new road that runs south from Dawson to Denoise Street in Bethel Village.
However, both ideas are neither cheap nor easy. One involves building a bridge over a creek and extending the road through agricultural land. The other involves building bridges over a creek and legal drain, and a road through a flood plain.
Regardless, county officials need to figure out a viable solution soon. Every day that goes by without one increases the risks to the residents’ safety and job security — and the county’s liability in a costly lawsuit.
Those are risks not worth taking.
