For people who live, work, or camp in St. Clair Township's Cedar Grove community, there are three ways in and out of the neighborhood, and all three cross the same set of railroad tracks. The increasing number of stopped trains in recent years, preventing people from coming and going, finally reached a point where the community and Butler County had to find a solution.
The Ohio Rail Development Commission is awarding Butler County nearly $2.8 million to help fund an access road and close an at-grade crossing. The grant is a 90% match. Butler County commissioners are kicking in the other 10%, roughly $300,000, according to Commission President Cindy Carpenter.
"In 2021, we were blocked 33 times for a total of 15 and a half hours," says neighbor Pam Stroup. "In 2022, we were blocked 29 times for a total of 20 hours and 13 minutes, and in 2023, we were blocked seven times (just) from January to May."
Stroup led a signature petition asking for change. She explains there are 215 homes, 14 empty plots, a campground and a Co-Alliance Cooperative, Inc. facility in the Cedar Grove subdivision, with some homes dating back to nearly the turn of the last century. The subdivision is bordered on three sides by railroad tracks, and on the fourth by a creek.
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The only way in or out is over the tracks.
Trains have gotten longer in recent years — some now stretch more than two miles. This is increasingly causing problems, especially for rural Americans, when the trains breakdown or stop for any length of time.
For people in Cedar Grove, it means being late to work and school, missing appointments, the potential of being stuck in an emergency, and an inability for emergency services like ambulances, police or the fire department to reach people in need.
Township Trustee Dustin Gadd recalls a meeting on the issue last summer.
"The whole community center was standing room only, and the concerned citizens, they were pretty vocal," he says. "It was from people not being able to get home in time to breastfeed their baby or kids not getting to school on time; missing work; somebody needed to go to the hospital."
Gadd is relieved there's finally going to be a solution.
"This is a great day for the residents. It's a sigh of relief. Nobody has to feel like they're blocked in, whether they need safety services, (are) going to work, taking their kids to youth sporting events or even to school — sometimes the school buses, they're late to school."
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Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkins says he's grateful to the Ohio Rail Development Commission for funding the matching grant; the money comes from a provision in the most recent state budget to eliminate grade crossings. He notes it took a while to figure out how to get funding because the project didn't qualify for federal dollars.
He says the county will build "a 2,900-foot access road to run parallel to the rail out in St. Clair Township. (It) will provide the access to the residents. It gives them a way out even when all three other crossings are blocked, and then gives the emergency services a way in and a way out."
While township residents like Stroup and Gadd are excited, the project will still take several years to complete. Wilkins estimates, "with a little bit of luck, we could be under construction by the end of '25 (or) early '26 and open somewhere mid- to late- '26 — that's what we're hoping for."
The Butler County Sheriff's Office and township officials have worked out a temporary safety plan in case emergency services are needed in the meantime.
