WALBRIDGE — Trains are less of a pain in Lake Township after an outcry by public officials and citizens over blocked crossings.

Lake Township Trustee Chairman Ken Gilsdorf said a meeting with the railroad was held March 21.

“They started breaking right away,” Gilsdorf said. “We had a really good meeting.”

Three Norfolk Southern representatives met with him, Fire Chief Bruce Moritz and Police Chief Mark Hummer, who is also the township administrator. U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green, and Ohio Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Huron, also attended, Gilsdorf said.

Marvin Burns, who lives just west of the Walbridge Road crossing and has been keeping a log of blocked crossings for the last year, was also at the meeting.

“They admitted there was a problem, and they did not want a situation occurring where the crossing was blocked when fire, EMS or police couldn’t get across,” Gilsdorf said.

Norfolk Southern came up with three solutions, he said.

If a train was going to be stopped, blocking a crossing for more than an hour, they would try to cut it, Gilsdorf said.

Also, the railroad will install a phone or sensor at the Walbridge Road crossing. An alert system would come into the police and fire departments when the crossing was blocked, letting emergency responders know that they need to take another route.

“This has been done at other crossings,” Gilsdorf said.

The third solution is to install another sensor that would trip a flashing blue light, alerting drivers that the crossing was blocked. This would help with situations where a truck driver has started down a road, encounters a blocked crossing and has to back up, Gilsdorf said.

There is a light like this at the Pickle Road crossing in Oregon, he said.

“It tells you to go a different way,” Gilsdorf said.

One other solution could be an overpass.

“How feasible would it be — it might cost millions of dollars,” Gilsdorf said. “You’re talking about right-of-way issues, the homeowners … you’re talking about taking out buildings.”

The first two solutions, breaking the trains and the sensor that goes to the police and fire departments, were promised immediately, Gilsdorf said.

“We’re giving them a chance,” he said. “We’re going to see.”

Several crossings in the township have often been blocked for hours — if not days — at a time. Last month, Walbridge Road was blocked for 83 hours straight.

Gilsdorf credited Burns’ persistence for getting everyone to the table.

Burns said he’s still dubious about a permanent change in the railroad operations.

“It has improved, because that’s only because it was so bad beforehand,” Burns said Friday. “There’s still room for improvement.”

He said before the meeting with the railroad there was a 10-week average of 46 hours of blocked crossings.

“It’s down to 12-20 hours. So, yeah, it’s an improvement,” he said.

Burns said that on Friday morning the Walbridge Road crossing was blocked from midnight to 9 a.m.

Through the Ohio Department of Transportation website’s blocked crossing tab, Burns’ research showed that three crossings in Lake Township — Walbridge, Lemoyne and Pemberville roads — make up 25% of all Ohio railroad blockages.

The Walbridge Road crossing is No. 1 in the country for being blocked. Lemoyne Road is No. 3 in the country.

Ohio is No. 2 in the nation for blocked crossings.