Train crossing blockages and noisy target practices rile Warren County residents

Trains and gunfire have gotten Warren County residents riled up in recent weeks, specifically on the latter front uninhibited target practicing the constant noise from which has proved a nuisance to residents of Rockland’s Clearback subdivision.

Then there are the trains.

Rockland has three crossings – Rockland Road, Fairground Road, and Ashby Station Road – and it is a given that increasingly often slow moving or stationary trains sometimes will block all three of the entrances to or exits from the area. On occasion, road traffic has been held up for up to 30 minutes. I know. I live there.

How long this time? Drivers may be thinking as traffic begins to back up at the Rockland railroad crossing.

It is generally realized by county authorities that this in itself can provoke a life or death situation, which it recently did when a resident, commercial airlines pilot Clark Cummings, reacted badly to a wasp sting and was unconscious and possibly near death when emergency technicians (EMTs) successfully treated him on arrival and in route to Warren Memorial Hospital. According to his wife, AnnMarie, the rescue trip was interrupted by train-blocked railroad crossings.

“Like the (Morgan Ford) low water bridge, do we have to wait for a death to occur before something is done about this situation?” she asked, referring to the new, two-lane bridge crossing the Shenandoah river in the Rockland area.

In the case of target practice, which can be heard almost any time of the day or early evening – including Sundays – the Board of Supervisors has scheduled a hearing next month on a petition signed by most Clearback residents, and by the owner of Shenandoah Valley Golf Club, to abate the noise and, in the hopes of the neighborhood, to lawfully halt target practice in the area. James Harper, a Rockland activist, is leading the charge.

For information on the railroad problem, I went to departing County Administrator Doug Stanley for an update. Stanley and previous Warren supervisory boards had agreed that blockages at any of the three crossings could endanger lives if emergency vehicles were held up; and were, in any event, a nuisance to residents trying to make doctor, dentist or business appointments, or even get to and from the grocery store.

Former Warren County Supervisor Tom Sayre, beaten in the last election, raised more awareness by supporting a proposed bridge at the Rockland Road crossing as part of his failed reelection bid. The proposal was taken seriously and appeared to gain impetus to where it is today.

Federal funding in the amount of $15.2 million was approved two years ago, based on a Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) estimate. Since then, earlier this year, the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission applied for an additional $7.3 million after learning from Norfolk Southern railroad that establishment of a third track was envisioned to accommodate the huge increase in train traffic, much of which is handled by the Inland Port Authority, Stanley said the bridge-building project may commence on approval of the additional funding and will be supervised by VDOT.

As county administrator, Doug Stanley knows the access problems blocked train crossings have caused citizens in Rockland and elsewhere, most dangerously with emergency medical service access.

Stanley acknowledged that “the Rockland community and its residents have been dealing with … rail blockages of Rockland, Fairground, and Ashby Station roads for many years.

“While we have had some success working with Norfolk Southern … the ultimate solution remains the construction of a (bridge) crossing to provide uninterrupted access to the community. This is important for residents and businesses in the area, but extremely important for the provision of emergency services. Five to 10 minutes could mean the difference between life and death in responding to a medical call,” Stanley observed.

And that’s what the family of our neighbor with the life-threatening insect sting emphasized after he survived the potentially deadly allergic reaction.

Stanley, in his waning days and before the announced resignation of his deputy, Bob Childress, credited Childress “for his efforts in helping the county navigate this process and secure much needed funding to address this long-standing issue.” Childress was a former administrator for VDOT.

A target date for the start of the construction of the bridge?  Not yet, but a Rockland Road crossing overpass appears at least to be on the horizon.