Around Oakley: Train crossing means delays for certain neighborhoods

By Roni Gehlke
For the Contra Costa Times

Living in a community with a major railroad running through the center of it, one can get used to a lot of things. For instance, there is the noise factor. On a summer evening with the doors and windows open it isn't unusual to hear the train whistle at least two or three times before one train leaves town. It doesn't matter if you live by the tracks or a mile away.
Depending where you are located it is even possible to hear the clanging of the crossing bells. For someone like me who lives right behind the crossing, it is even possible to become so accustomed to the noise that sometimes a train can go by and you would completely miss the noise altogether.
However, that said, it's still bothersome that the Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe seems to take liberties with the amount of time it keeps the crossing closed on the Big Break Road. For those who aren't familiar, there is a side track to the railroad crossing adjacent to the DuPont property where BNSF stores train cars. For quite a few months now the railroad company has been picking up cars in the middle of the day, about 2 p.m. or so, a couple of days a week. While doing so they must close the gates and stop train traffic while the train backs up onto the side track and picks up the new cars.
California State Law says this is permissible under Cal. [Pub. Util.] Code § 1225.2 (1999). The law states that in this instance it must be completed with its intrusion in 10 minutes.
During the past month I've been monitoring the wait time since this is a crossing I frequent, and it seems that I'm always coming or going just when the workers are out shifting trains. On three separate occasions the wait time was 15 minutes or more.
Many people who live in the Vintage Parkway subdivision complain that it takes even longer to get through the crossing. Many times there are at least five or more cars waiting on each side of the tracks. Many who wait on the side closest to Vintage Parkway side make illegal three-point turns to go around the other direction to get away from the train wait.
The big question is what can be done about it? Not much really. It is really just a misdemeanor to hold up traffic. It would require the Oakley police to be stationed at the tracks with a time clock each time the railroad drops off or picks up a load of cars on those tracks. That is probably a waste of time for the precious few officers Oakley has.
Those interested in complaining can go straight to the source and contact BNSF by writing a letter and letting them know there is a concern. Or, check the website at www.bnsf.com/communities/contact-us. Good luck. Maybe if enough people complain they can speed up the process of picking up and dropping off the cars or move it away from this crossing altogether.
Roni Gehlke is an Oakley resident. Reach her at ourbackyard@comcast.net.