Birmingham council president says laws barring trains from blocking streets in Collegeville need more teeth

Birmingham City Councilwoman Maxine Parker says state legislation and a city law have been useless when it comes to keeping trains from blocking streets in Collegeville.

The stalled trains sit on tracks daily, fence in neighborhoods and present a serious safety hazard, she said.

Now, years after laws were passed, Parker said it's time the city enforce them.

The state Legislature in 2001 passed a bill making it illegal for trains to obstruct streets for more than five minutes. The bill set a penalty of $1,000 for each violation. A city ordinance has similar provisions, but Parker said she can't recall any time a train company has been fined.

"Trains are allowed to stay on tracks over an hour - just sit there," she said.

Parker asked Council President Carole Smitherman on Wednesday to call a special council work session to discuss the problem next week.

"We may need to put a little more teeth in the legislation, and I would be more than happy to write some proposals to present to the Legislature," Smitherman said. "It's a recurring problem not only in north Birmingham but all over the city. This kind of ordinance should have been strictly enforced many years ago."

During the meeting Parker said she will also show a short documentary that illustrates the problem.

The film "Trained In" was produced last year by Allison Stagg and Kevin Garrison, who were students at the University of Alabama. The filmmakers learned about Collegeville from newspaper articles and decided to feature its residents and the effect of the railroad tracks on their lives.

Railroad officials have said several factors can cause delays including mechanical problems and a backup with other trains.

Parker named several problem areas: 35th Avenue North, 27th Avenue North and Vanderbilt Road, 29th Avenue North, the 1900 block of Vanderbilt Road, the 2300 block of Shuttlesworth Drive and the 3000 block of Shuttlesworth Drive.

Susan Terpay, a spokeswoman for Norfolk Southern Corp., which uses some of the tracks, said officials would evaluate the problem intersections and determine which if any her of company's trains were causing problems. The other railroad operating trains in the area is CSX.

Collegeville for decades was a major industrial center where homes were built just blocks from the plants where many residents worked. Residents complain that trains serving those industries block streets and fence them from the rest of the city.

Mayor Larry Langford has said he wants to revitalize the neighborhood and make it an example of how areas can rebound.

But Parker said a key to any successful revitalization effort for Collegeville must first address the train issue.