Kent City Council seeks answers to stuck railroad crossing gates

Kent City Council seeks answers to stuck railroad crossing gates

The Kent City Council wants a speedy resolution to why railroad crossing gates get stuck in the down position when no trains are coming along the tracks.

The delays leave drivers frustrated and backed up in traffic while trying to get through town and across the tracks on the popular commuter routes of James, Smith and Willis streets. But so far railroad officials have been slow to provide answers and sometimes simply difficult to reach about crossing gates stuck on the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway tracks.

“We’ve had a spat of those recently,” Public Works Director Tim LaPorte said at a Jan. 3 council workshop. “This is just my own personal conjecture but I would guess we would have at least one every two weeks. …Usually they don’t occur very long. The ones during rush hour that last a long time are an absolute pain in the butt and people have no tolerance for that for obvious reasons.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“The problem is we don’t have a good handle on what causes them. We do believe the railroad system is fairly antiquated. In some cases it’s been updated, in other cases it’s not. The railroad has not been very forthright in telling us about their equipment – maybe it’s for security reasons – we are not really sure.”

During one incident in November when crossing gates got stuck, it took nearly 90 minutes before BNSF crews fixed the problem, according to city staff.

Councilman Dennis Higgins asked city staff where railroad officials come from to respond to incidents.

“They do have people stationed throughout the region,” said Kelly Peterson, city transportation manager. “They have staff in Auburn. The issue in November was due to a malfunctioning charger that was on battery backup and both batteries died, so the arms went down in the fail safe mode. BNSF indicated they requested a police escort to get here because traffic was so bad they couldn’t get through.”

Peterson said it’s been an ongoing issue to get more answers from BNSF.

“When an event occurs, we’re calling the number and ending up some place in Texas,” Peterson said. “I tried some of the contacts I had and ended up getting a guy in Nevada and he was having trouble getting information. It’s a struggle for staff when these events occur and we are trying to get some resolution to that.”

Councilman Jim Berrios asked for clarifications about why it’s so hard to reach railroad staff.

“I’m really surprised that we have a tough time getting hold of somebody,” Berrios said. “Who is our go-to person that we can talk to and say ‘we have a problem, can we get it fixed?’”

Peterson said city staff has asked BNSF for local contacts but it hasn’t happened.

Matt Mitchell, a BNSF Railway field safety manager in Seattle, told the council’s Public Works Committee in November that the agency responds as fast as possible to incidents, including stuck crossing gates.

“It varies in time how fast we get out there,” Mitchell said. “We have to get dispatchers and a couple other groups involved. We try to get out there as fast as we can to resolve the issue.”

Mitchell said BNSF is well aware of the crossing gate issues.

“Having congestion or issues with malfunctioning gates is a huge problem for us,” Mitchell said. “Kent is a great example of a place where we can figure out a system where it’s going to work. So we are actively looking at Kent as one of the places where we test out the new technology and some of the stuff that will make all of the crossings more efficient.”

City staff plans to post large signs on city right-of-way near the downtown crossings with the BNSF phone number to call if the gates get stuck. Right now BNSF supplies the number on a small sign that’s hard for drivers to see without getting out of their vehicles, according to city officials.

If drivers see the gates stuck, the number to call is 1-800-832-5452.

“We need you guys to call and report it,” Council President Bill Boyce said. “We figure the more people that call in then hopefully they will be aware that there is a problem. …Maybe we can bring a little more attention to it.”

Boyce said the topic remains a priority to get resolved.

“We’ve been having some challenges with the gates going down and no trains coming,” Boyce said. “We are trying to work through that with Burlington Northern, trying to figure out how we can work together to alleviate this problem. We are still discussing it and we will continue to work with the railroad to figure out what we can do.”


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

Holy Spirit Parish in downtown Kent. COURTESY PHOTO, Holy Spirit Parish
Kent’s Severe Weather Shelter housed dozens of people

As many as 36 people stayed one night during February’s freezing temperatures

File Photo
Kent Police officer shoots, injures man in Des Moines

Feb. 14 incident under review by Valley Independent Investigative Team

People line SE 272nd Street in Covington on Presidents Day, Feb. 17 to protest many of the actions by the Trump administration. COURTESY PHOTO, Ron Auerbach
People line Covington street to protest Trump, Musk actions

One of many protests across the nation against ‘the anti-democratic and illegal actions’

Charlene Honda at the Day of Remembrance on Feb. 8, 2025, at the Washington State Fairgrounds. Photo by Bruce Honda
Federal Way woman recalls her time in U.S. concentration camp

‘It’s good for people to hear what happened so that it never happens again.’

t
Man fatally shot by Kent Police had high blood alcohol level

Crime lab test results show 0.27 blood concentration level in August 2024 shooting at apartments

Courtesy Photo, City of Kent
Construction set in Kent for 74th Ave. S. and Willis Street

Crews to install traffic islands, curbing at busy intersection

t
Kent Police Blotter: Jan. 26 to Feb. 6

Incidents include vehicle prowls, carjacking arrest, police pursuits, shots fired

Kentlake High School. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent School District
Former Kentlake High School teacher pleads guilty to sex charge

Jesse Webb, 46, pleads guilty to communication with a minor for immoral purposes

t
Kent School Board appoints Teresa Gregory to vacant seat

Gregory selected from among 7 finalists to replace Awale Farah

Karen Keiser. COURTESY PHOTO
Former state Sen. Karen Keiser appointed to state Exchange health board

Health Benefit Exchange formed as part of Affordable Care Act

Crews on the SR 509 Completion Project in south King County install the framework for a new bus stop on SR 516, also known as Kent-Des Moines Road. The SR 509 Completion Project includes new or improved connections to existing transit centers and stops. COURTESY PHOTO, WSDOT
Eastbound SR 516 ramp to I-5 in Kent to close for 4 months

Drivers heading to northbound I-5 will use a temporary left turn lane

Courtesy Photo, King County
Tacoma boy, 17, charged with murder in November 2024 Kent case

Reportedly fired six shots into vehicle that killed 21-year-old SeaTac man on West Hill