Trains keep blocking roads in Texas like crazy. $756 million in new funding aims to fix that

The Texas Department of Transportation will receive more than $756 million to advance 12 critical rail grade separation projects across Texas. The projects will separate railroads from vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic, which is often done by raising the roadways above the railroad tracks.

One of the projects will be located at the Walzem crossing, where a four-lane road passes over a double-track rail line on the Northeast Side. Over the past five years, the Federal Railroad Administration has received 150 reports of trains blocking Walzem Road. 

“Fifty of the reports said the train had blocked the road for more than an hour. Twenty-nine of those who made the reports said they’d witnessed pedestrians climbing over or under the stopped train; 27 said they’d seen first responders unable to cross,” Richard Webner writes for San Antonio Express-News.

“The reports, made through the agency’s online system, describe ambulances forced to turn around, school buses blocked from taking children home, missed doctors' appointments and late work arrivals, drivers struggling to stay cool in their cars and resorting to unsafe maneuvers to circumvent the train.” 

The funding comes through the National Railroad Partnership Program/Federal Railroad Administration's Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program. Texas’ awards are collectively the highest amount of any state or local recipient receiving funds.