NORTHERN VALLEY AREA, N.J.—Following repairs to a severely deteriorating railroad grade crossing on Old Hook Road in Closter—which was rattling emergency vehicles and drivers daily— CSX Corp. is beginning a summer-long series of upgrades at railroad crossings throughout the Northern Valley after persistent pressure applied by public officials, emergency first-responders and residents.
CSX crews recently made a temporary fix to Nothvale’s Clinton Avenue railroad crossing without notifying the mayor and the jury is still out on whether the repairs will hold, said Mayor Patrick Marana following the unannounced repairs.
Calls and emails to CSX to talk about a schedule for summer repairs and what towns/crossings are on the list to be completed were not returned by press time.
Marana said a more comprehensive repair is planned at the Clinton Avenue crossing due to the borough allocating $17,600 into an escrow account to help cover CSX engineering services on borough property.
But apparently on June 27, CSX undertook some repairs there, which were not unwelcome, said Marana, but no one from CSX let anyone local know what was going on.
‘Short-term band-aid’
“No one was notified. They were in and out of town pretty quickly. People have noticed that repairs were made, but I have not yet spoken with anyone who saw the work being performed,” emailed Marana to Northern Valley Press in late June.
“I’ve checked them out, but I’m not a qualified inspector. They are a short-term band-aid,” Marana emailed.
At a May 22 meeting in Harrington Park hosted by Mayor Paul Hoelscher—where media was not invited—attendees included Marana, along with Norwood Police Chief Jeffrey Krapels, several representatives from Closter Police Department, mayors of Dumont and Bergenfield, District 39 Republican Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, a representative from U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s office (D-NJ5), and Rodney J. Oglesby, CSX vice president of government relations, who manages railroad concerns in New Jersey.
Oglesby reports to Randy Cheetham, CSX regional vice president for state government and community affairs, said an online CSX press statement.
Northern Valley Press reached out to Oglesby and CSX via email for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Disrepair and damage
Much of the May CSX meeting in Harrington Park focused on railroad crossings in disrepair, citizen and motorist complaints, trash strewn about areas near crossings and CSX property, damage to vehicles, possible time delays for emergency response vehicles caused by uneven grade crossings and train noise concerns.
Marana said he told CSX of previous damage to local ambulances and ongoing worries over the sorry condition of the local Clinton Avenue crossing as well as ambulance undercarriage damage caused by the CSX grade crossing on Old Hook Road in Closter.
Marana cited an April 30 letter to CSX from the Northvale Ambulance Corps, forwarded by the borough attorney, which called out CSX for “deplorable conditions of railroad crossings in and around the Northern Valley” and specifically Old Hook Road in Closter and Clinton Avenue in Northvale.
The Old Hook Road intersection was replaced in May.
‘Patients jostled around’
The letter, written by Thea McDaniell, said local ambulances on emergency response to Hackensack Meridian Health at Pascack Valley often must traverse both crossings.
“The patients are jostled around on the stretcher no matter how slowly the ambulance crosses the tracks,” McDaniell wrote.
“This contributes to unsafe travel for medical patients. As you can imagine, this can cause physical harm to some patients who are already suffering from trauma. In addition, time is of the essence for those patients whose life depends on rapid transport. There are no adequate railroad crossings available to us that are in safe condition,” McDaniell noted.
McDaniell said their ambulance sustained damage to the suspension and the liquid spring, which likely requires replacing.
She said as a volunteer ambulance corps, funds are limited for such expenses.
“We do not want to have to seek damages from CSX for the repair of our vehicles,” McDaniell wrote.
In a mid-June note to CSX accompanying McDaniell’s letter, Borough Attorney Deena Rosendahl noted the urgency of repairs needed, adding: “Our goal is to avoid any potential future liability and of course, avoid the possibility of future litigation.”
Northvale future upgrades
Marana said the future railroad upgrades planned at the Clinton Avenue crossing by CSX include new gates with LED lighting, a realignment of gates and regrading, drainage improvements, roadway repaving, sidewalk work and Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant curb cuts.
Marana said the project is anticipated to start in mid-November and will require that the crossing be closed about five days. Final completion of sidewalks is due by spring 2020, he said.
Also at the CSX meeting was Norwood Police Chief Krapels, who said he’s received “quite a few complaints” from motorists about Norwood’s CSX crossing on Broadway.
Reached in early July, Krapels said CSX told him that the Broadway crossing would be done during the summer, but offered no timeline.
He said CSX told him that materials for repairs had arrived and confirmed the crossing would be done.
He said the communication about the Broadway upgrade stated that it’s “on their list of crossings to address as part of their work and continued maintenance schedule.”
‘A little quicker’
“After the (May 22) meeting, I thought it would be moving a little quicker,” Krapels told Northern Valley Press. Krapels said he got eight complaints about the crossing himself and a total of 20 from the mayor and council, public works and borough hall employees.
Krapels said complaints focused on the “very bumpy” crossing, non-level crossing grades, protruding railroad ties, and motorists needing to slow down to drive over the rail lines.
While the meeting was organized by Harrington Park Mayor Hoelscher and Borough Administrator Ann Bistritz, it was not clear what Harrington Park’s concerns were with CSX.
Bistritz said via email July 1 that “we met and discussed our issues but [Harrington Park] has not heard back from CSX regarding any of our concerns.”
She said Hoelscher preferred to speak about local concerns but he did not return an email and call by press time.