Country Club Court blocked in
posted by Brent FinneganResidents of Country Club Court, a townhouse subdivision with only one road in or out, are temporarily prohibited from leaving or coming home today. Norfolk Southern is repairing the railroad, and traffic in and out is completely blocked.
I just spoke with a resident who is currently prevented from going to work. He said there was little warning to Country Club Court residents that they would become trapped. The road is expected to reopen around 2:00 pm.
Some residents of that neighborhood are planning to circulate a petition to have another access road added.
You may recall the cell tower story, when Norfolk Southern erected cell towers along their property that exceeded the city’s zoning height regulations. The city does not have any regulatory control over what Norfolk Southern does on their own property.
posted: September 4th, 2008 by Brent Finnegan
filed under news & meta-news.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from Renee
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:11 pm
That sounds horrible! What if there was an emergency? Can ambulances get in? No one can get out? The city could at least provide some sort of shuttle so people could walk across the railroad and get around town.
They do need to create another exit/entrance out of that neighborhood - it seems dangerous to be that inaccessible, even when there’s not construction. Also, I’d be pissed if they hadn’t given me ample warning and I lived there and couldn’t get to work. As far as I know, there are a lot of hispanic residents there, so I hope they posted big signs in English and Spanish explaining what was about to happen, or put flyers in every mailbox in that neighborhood.
You can’t just create dangerous situations like that for people, trapping them in and out with no alternative. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Comment from Renee
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:12 pm
And doesn’t Norfolk Southern have to alert the city that they are doing repairs that will block a road? I wonder what the process is there.
Comment from finnegan
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:22 pm
I think they alert the city, but not the residents. I would think, in this instance, that door hanger notices for everyone living in that neighborhood would be in order.
There was a fire engine on the residents’ side of the tracks, just in case, but no ambulance could have gotten in or out.
Comment from Evan
Time: September 5, 2008, 8:50 am
I am happy to report that they did reopen the road when promised at 2p.m. However, this does not mean that the situation is fixed. There are so many questions to be answered, so many things I could point my finger at, and I am still dealing with the affects of being imprisoned inside the community. The biggest danger to me was the unreachable emergency services. Yes there was a fire truck on our side. That was not manned when I went exploring the situation. Unless on foot, there is literally no other way to get access in case of emergency. I do have pictures taken on my camera phone that are pretty good. I’ll just need to upload them somewhere for people to view. Yesterday’s events should not occur at any time for any reason. Without fair warning, times, fliers, etc… Oh and just a hint, they are expecting to close Reservoir street at the crossing as well. I do not know when.
Comment from Mike
Time: September 5, 2008, 2:00 pm
Terrible. If I lived there and couldn’t leave for work or anywhere else, with no advance warning, I’d be beyond livid.
I think it also should be noted that this is not a small apartment building. The large complex houses easily hundreds of families.
Pingback from hburgnews.com » Maryland Closed at RR Xing Wednesday
Time: September 9, 2008, 5:19 pm
[...] As I wrote last week, Norfolk Southern is repairing tracks throughout the city, causing temporary street closures. [...]
Comment from Spencer
Time: September 9, 2008, 9:24 pm
Having been in and out of that neighborhood before many times, I can say first hand that the likely solution of parking the ambulance just outside of the RR tracks would not be adequate. IIRC, some of the farther units would take a good 5 or 10 min to walk to, esp if dragging a stretcher and equipment.
I can’t even fathom how I would react if I got up to go to work and *bam* I couldn’t get out. I think you said it best, Mike…I’d be BEYOND LIVID
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