A freight train passes over the unprotected one-lane railroad crossing at White's Beach Road in Ballston Lake.

4 April 2011

Ballston Residents Canadian Pacific Still Trying to Work Out Compromise That Will Address Unsafe Railroad Crossings But Keep Roads Open

Ballston New York USA - Residents of three roads along Ballston Lake have been meeting with representatives from Canadian Pacific Railway over the past several months in hopes of reaching a compromise that will keep their roads open or provide alternative routes to their property.
 
In October 2010, Canadian Pacific petitioned the New York State Department of Transportation to request that three railroad crossings in Ballston Lake be closed. The three crossings are unattended, meaning drivers need to approach the tracks, look both ways for trains, and then proceed across at their own risk.
 
The three private roads, White's Beach Road, Connolly Road, and Saunders Lane, are the only access routes many residents on Ballston Lake have to their property.
 
In January, a public hearing was held in front of Administrative Law Judge Robert A. Rybak, who will eventually make a ruling on whether to grant Canadian Pacific's request and close the three crossings. He suggested, though, that residents and the railroad work it out amongst themselves. "I can't stress any more strongly that it is in your best interest to sit down and come to an agreement," Rybak told the public at the hearing. "To fail to do so is at your own peril."
 
Last Wednesday, residents from Connolly Road met with representatives from the Canadian Pacific and the state DOT to try and work through some of their options for moving forward. It was the latest in a series of small public hearings between residents of specific roads and the railroad company.
 
"The goal is to come to some kind of agreement we can all live with," said Chris Cernek, counsel to Canadian Pacific.
 
The railroad company laid out several strategies. Some called for closing one road and having the town take over the other two, but that would require bringing the road up to town standards, which would be costly.
 
Ballston Town Supervisor Patricia Southworth said the town is currently considering expending $23,000 to evaluate how much money it would cost to bring one of the roads into compliance with town standards.
 
If the town takes over one or more of the roads, it is possible it could get federal funding to pay for flashing, gated railroad crossings, each of which costs between $200,000 and $300,000.
 
Canadian Pacific maintains it will contribute $100,000 toward any plan that would close a crossing, though if public funds are used, that money is taken off the table for legal reasons.
 
"Because of the particular situation here, and because the railroad is trying to be a good neighbor, we are willing to put up $100,000 to close these crossings," said George Berard, a public works specialist for Canadian Pacific.
 
Some of the railroad's plans, though, would require the use of some privately owned land, land many residents are unwilling to part with.
 
George Christian attended the meeting in place of U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook), who was in Washington, D.C., during the public hearing. "We're here to find out what some of the problems are," he said. "We do a lot of things to find out how to support the district."
 
Representative James Tedisco has also been routinely sending people to keep him updated on the situation in Ballston.
 
"Government is working with government to help the residents," said Southworth, who reached out to the legislators for assistance.
 
"The meetings have been productive, nothing has been solved yet, but things are moving forward," said one landowner who asked to remain anonymous. "It's tough making a comment with so much going on down here," she added.
 
Lucian McCarty.