GREENSVILLE COUNTY, Va. -- For years, a railroad crossing that is often blocked by trains has caused concerns for those who live and work on a dead-end road. On Wednesday morning, the Greensville crossing was blocked all day due to construction.
"It's very frustrating," Greensville Sheriff Tim Jarratt said.
Those who live or work on the dead-end side of the Liberty Road railroad crossing said they learned of the day-long closure just yesterday.
"I believe we should have been notified a lot sooner than yesterday," Pastor Valley Woodley with the Elnora Jarrell Worship Center said.
Woodley said that this crossing has been a problem for decades.
"This is a dead-end street, so if anything happens or anybody needs to be tended to, they cannot get in or out," Woodley said.
Jarratt said he learned of the closure at 9:30 on Wednesday morning. He said the sheriff is usually blocked due to a stopped train.
"We've been fighting this battle for a while now," Jarratt said.
On the other side of the road is about a two-mile stretch with homes, a mobile home park and a church. The repair work has forced people to walk around the construction, either to leave or to get back home.
"We had to actually take the children and walk them across this track here and then get another vehicle and transport them to the facility," Woodley said.
The biggest concern is what to do in an emergency situation if the crossing is blocked by a train or construction.
"Ours is a life or death situation," Woodley said.
"We have grave concerns if we have an emergency," Jarratt said.
While the sheriff expressed his concerns to CSX about the closure, he also helped this elderly woman across the tracks.
As they slowly make their way across, trying to get to a waiting car to take her the rest of the way home, the woman reported chest pain.
The sheriff then called for an ambulance and the CSX crew was forced to implement an emergency plan by moving asphalt and putting down rocks to try and make the crossing passable.
The emergency crew arrived a short time later, assessed the patient and then walked her back to the ambulance to bring her to a hospital.
"Excruciating to have to stand here and watch and also be helpless, really, because what could we really do?" Belinda Astrop, the vice chair for the Greensville County Board of Supervisors, said.
Astrop said the board of supervisors has long been aware of the issues at the Liberty Road Crossing. While it is on a priority list, the cost of the solution is prohibitive.
"We're just going to have to continue to reach out to our state and federal representatives to get the help that we need in this area," Astrop said.
Neighbors said they plan to attend the next board of supervisors meeting to voice their concerns.
"Before the next board meeting, we need to start the ball rolling, getting calls, going to see additionally what we can do as far as fixing this problem," Astrop said.
Both neighbors and the Greenville County Sheriff say they hope this situation never happens again and they plan to work to make sure it doesn't.
CBS 6 reached out to CSX to ask about the problems at this crossing and have not heard back.
