SAND SPRINGS, Okla. — When Andrea Freeman called 2 News Oklahoma, Brodie Myers followed up.
“I possibly have a story for you guys. We’re out in Sand Springs, and we’ve been having an issue with the trains coming through an stopping on the tracks. Our neighborhood has one way in and one way out,” Freeman said.
2 News listened to stories, dating back years, involving trains blocking the entrance and exit for the neighborhood.
“A friend of ours, they were living with us at the time, had gone to the gas station and come back, and the train had completely stopped. And, at the time, we’re like, OK, thought it was gonna move, and it wound up being 6 hours before they moved,” Freeman said.
Oklahoma governments are hard-pressed to respond to such cases. Oklahoma had laws in place to keep trains moving, but the Supreme Court struck them down.
“There’s no accountability to stop them when they do this. They just block the only roads in and out of the neighborhood, and nothing happens,” Freeman’s husband, Adam said, “Nothing’s gonna happen to them, no one’s gonna hold them accountable, nobody’s gonna make them feel any monetary issues on this, they’re just like … you gotta suck it up and live with it.”
“We have a newborn, he’s about 11 weeks now, our biggest scare, through the whole pregnancy was what if I go into labor, and the train is stopped on the track,” Andrea Freeman said.
“Our business and our customers depend on BNSF to keep our trains moving. When our trains experience a situation that forces them to stop, BNSF works to correct or resolve the situation as quickly as possible to resume the safe movement of trains. Building new infrastructure such as roadways or overpasses is fundamentally a local discussion, between residents and the road authority. With that said, BNSF stands ready to work with the local community if they bring forward a workable solution,” Kendall Sloan, a spokesperson for BNSF said.
Freeman’s neighborhood is located in an unincorporated part of Sand Springs. County Commissioner Lonnie Sims represents the area. 2 News Oklahoma reached out to his media spokesperson, who promised Sims would look further into the issue.
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