SHEFFIELD – There’s an old saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”. As it applies to the four railroad crossings that effectively cut off Sheffield from the rest of Colbert County at various times of the day and night, seven days a week there have been hundreds of “first steps”. Contrary to the tome, this journey, to County Commissioner, Tommy Barnes hasn’t really gotten off the starting line. But he keeps trying.
Tommy Barnes Colbert County Commission Chairman
Barnes,, whose District includes Sheffield, has made the railroad one of his prime areas of focus. He has talked with and cajoled the Norfolk Southern Railroad executives to help out Sheffield in every way possible. He has asked for limiting railroad traffic to certain day-parts where there would be less impact on auto and truck traffic. He has worked with other County Commissioners to try and move the tracks to the south, away from our cities. But Barns’ efforts, so far haven’t gotten us very far.
The Quad Cities Daily has informally surveyed dozens of residents of the Shoals who seem to be conveying the same message. They think that Norfolk Southern just doesn’t care.
But Barns isn’t a quitter. And to prove the point he sent this statement to us regarding his communication with the Federal agency that regulates railroads. He said, “In response to recent feedback regarding the problems counties are experiencing with blocked rail crossings, the Federal Railroad Administration has establlished a new webpage that will allow the public to report these occurrences with the goal to use the data collected to help facilitate local solutions to the blocked crossing issue. That website is http://www.fra.dot.gov/blockedcrossings . He says to our residents to “Please report blocked crossings with no train movement. I will be meeting with Federal Officials in Washington, D.C. regarding the matter in early March. Please help share this website. The reporting will help us in our goal of getting Federal funding for overpasses.”
David Johnson at Sheffield Street Party 2014
Sheffield resident and Chairman of the Sheffield Utilities Board, David Johnson, who has announced his candidacy for Mayor in the upcoming election had this to say about the railroad crossings, “I support anything that would improve the RR crossing blockage in Sheffield. I certainly hope the new call and report system will get some positive results. However if people don’t take the time to actually do the reporting it will mean nothing. I have spoken with Congressman Adderholt concerning this problem in Sheffield and he assured me the railroad is working on a solution. If elected Mayor of Sheffield I vow to put forth continuing pressure on our state and federal office holders to get positive results.”
