Medfield Railroad Crossing Malfunctions Becoming 'A Problem'

If you have noticed the  or  out at the railroad crossing on Main Street by  or the longer than usual lines of traffic at the Route 109 and 27 intersection, it is likely because there has been a railroad light malfunction, according to Medfield Chief of Police Robert Meaney. 

Meaney said the railroad lights have been a problem this winter, especially over the past couple months, as the number of malfunctions have increased.

"It is partially weather-related and according to CSX, is partially due to snowmobiles cutting the wires that attach the rails," Meaney said. 

The main concern regarding these malfunctions, according to Meaney, is when it happens to the Route 109 crossing on Main Street because of its impact on the already busy traffic in that area. 

"This [problem] is not only because the lights come on and the gates go down but also because the Route 109 crossing is linked to the Route 100 by 27 and Route 109 by North Street intersections," Meaney said. 

As a result, these malfunctions cost money to detail officers, sometimes off-duty officers, to direct traffic until CSX responds to the scene and corrects the malfunction. Meaney said the wait on CSX to respond can vary from 30 minutes to three or four hours, "depending on the time of day."

"We have been sending the bills for these officers to CSX with no guarantee that they will be paid," Meaney said. 

When a train passes through the Route 109 crossing, traffic lights enter a cycle that prevents Route 109 traffic from heading towards the lights, according to Meaney. When the lights are working correctly, "Route 27 gets a green light for north and south while Route 109 turns red," Meaney said. "After the train passes, the railroad cycle ends and the lights return to their normal cycle. This railroad cycle also affects the lights at North and Main Streets."

The issue when the cycle does not reset is significant traffic problems. 

"The Fire Department responds and manually pulls the gates up and ties them into place," Meaney said. "The officers then do hand traffic until CSX comes out and repairs the crossing lights."

While officers wait for CSX to arrive, the police department makes decisions "on a case-by-case basis" regarding whether or not to respond to a call or the officer stays at the lights for traffic, Meaney said. 

"If it is apparent that CSX cannot respond for an extended period of time, we then call in off-duty officers to do traffic," Meaney said. 

Meaney has held discussions with both CSX and Medfield's traffic signal company to see if some type of switch could be installed inside the traffic box to temporarily disconnect the traffic lights from the railroad lights, but it is a complex solution to explore.

"While this may appear like a potential solution, there may be significant liability issues that would cause more problems than traffic congestion and prevent me from even considering that solution," Meaney said. 

CSX was expected to be in Medfield late last week to come up with another solution for the Route 109 lights, according to Meaney, something "that involves more extensive and permanent repairs."