(PHOTO BY AMY WENDT / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
HOLD UP … The North Defiance Street railroad crossing, where trains frequently stop, is seeing more blocks causing traffic delays that have sparked ongoing concerns among Archbold residents and officials.
By: Amy Wendt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
amy@thevillagereporter.com
After over a decade of off-and-on issues with trains blocking the North Defiance Street railroad crossing in downtown Archbold, the problem is resurfacing.
During the village council’s regular meeting on June 16, council member Aaron Babcock brought the matter up for discussion.
“Something that really bugs me – and it’s bugged me since I’ve been on council – even before, you know living in the village – is the train stoppages,” he began.
“After Saturday…I can’t believe we don’t have alert systems down on Lutz Road and Barre Road to say the train (crossing) is blocked. What can we do?” Babcock asked his colleagues.
His concern stemmed from an incident over the weekend, when a train stopped in the middle of town early Saturday morning blocking the Defiance Street crossing until later that afternoon leaving downtown truck traffic at a standstill and giving residents no option but to use the underpass on Clyde’s Way, on east outskirts of town.
Babcock emphasized the impact on truck traffic and industrial flow through the village and added that large vehicles are being forced onto smaller streets.
He asked whether the village could pursue partnerships with local businesses or Norfolk Southern to help fund a solution and inquired about possible next steps.
Discussions around trains blocking the downtown crossing took place about four years ago noted Councilor Kevin Eicher.
He indicated that at that time, the village chose not to implement additional notification measures since Norfolk Southern planned to accommodate the village by breaking up stopped trains to ensure at least one crossing remained open for traffic to pass to the other side of town.
Since that time, extended crossing blocks have gradually become more frequent. Council President Karla Ball added that Norfolk Southern has been fined several times in the past, but “it goes nowhere.”
Councilor Chad Kern questioned whether federal funding was available to find a solution as previously mentioned a few years ago.
The funding in question was only intended to study the feasibility of extending the siding, Village Administrator Aaron Alt clarified.
He added that following a conference call last year with Norfolk Southern and other officials, it became apparent that the railroad didn’t want a study conducted; instead, they preferred to move forward with extending the siding and permanently closing one or two county roads without further analysis – an approach that not only may not solve the problem but could also make things worse by cutting off additional crossings.
To help notify travelers of crossing blocks, the village has been looking into the signalization system TRAINFO.
Mayor Brad Grime weighed in by also suggesting the installation of flashing signs on Barre Road and Lutz Road to alert drivers of crossing blocks as a low-cost option. The signs would activate when a train is blocking the crossing, directing drivers to use the underpass instead.
He proposed that the flashing sign system could be triggered manually by police, fire personnel, or other village officials, possibly using a radio signal, avoiding the need for a more expensive traffic alert system.
Sitting in on the meeting on behalf of the Archbold Buckeye newspaper, Mary Huber shared that she has on multiple occasions spoken to truck drivers who were stopped at the tracks and attempted to direct them to alternate routes. The newspaper’s office is located downtown near the crossing.
However, some drivers indicated that they would be fined sometimes up to $10,000 by their companies for deviating from the state route.
“So, I think it’s great to put something up so people know that the crossing is blocked, but I don’t know how much you’re going to be able to get the truckers to move if they are getting fined like that, because they can be trapped,” Huber added.
Alt suggested the village work on not only better signage to help detour trucks but also look at an alternate truck route so they can avoid downtown altogether.
Wastewater Department Superintendent Mike Short who was present at the meeting, joined by two of his staff members, announced that Wade Enderle recently earned his Wastewater Class III certification, while Mason Siegel achieved his Class I certification.
In routine matters, council approved the June 2 meeting minutes, accepted the May 2025 financial reports, and authorized the payment of $441,615.98 in bills and payroll.
Moving to legislative items, council passed Resolution 2025-31 accepting Change Order #1, Final Contract 3-2025 for the Alley Waterline project west of the 1100 Block of South Defiance Street. The change order reflects an overall project cost decrease of around 8 percent.
In Resolution 2025-32, the council voted to accept a bid from J&S Concrete, LLC for Contract 6-25, the Short-Buehrer Road Sidewalk project at a cost of $39,415.00. The bid came in well below the engineer’s estimate of $55,000.00.
There were no committee or board minutes to review and the council took a look at the May 2025 EMS & Fire Calls for service along with the APD calls for service from the last month.
Addressing a question that came up at the last council meeting,Alt noted that the spike in sex offenses in the police department’s April report was indicative of the department working with the “Crimes Against Children” task force in response to cyber tips generated by local online activity.
Before adjourning, Mayor Grime took a moment to thank Mary Huber from the Archbold Buckeye, expressing appreciation for the support and coverage the newspaper has provided to the village over the years.
Mary shared that after the Buckeye ceases operations, eventually all past articles will be archived online at newspapers.com.
Archbold Village Council will reconvene on Monday, July 7, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building.