SCHERTZ, Texas – Schertz Police Chief Jim Lowery has been tracking the number of railroad crashes for about four years.
His list has 10 crashes so far, some of which are more notorious than others.
“The bigger thing for us is it’s not just that the fact that we have an accident. It’s the overall impact on this community because we have limited egress and ingress routes that allow us to go from north to south,” Lowery said.
Lowery and Public Information Officer Anna Kraft have been working on a plan to increase public awareness, especially among truckers.
One of the problems, according to Lowery, is that truck drivers should not be on those roads with low crossings, which are not designated truck routes.
“The reason why this particular crossing, again, this is Farm-to-Market 78 and Schertz Parkway, is that it has a hill, and then it drops down,” Kfaft said. “And you can see on the roadways the gouges. That’s where people are going up and then over, and their trailer hitches are catching.”
Lowery says truck drivers should use special trucking phone applications that alert them to designated truck routes.
In Schertz, only FM 78 and FM 3009 are truck routes. The police department has started issuing tickets to truck drivers caught using non-truck routes and also citing those who don’t stop behind the marked line behind the crossing arm.
The city is working to install new markings on their current street lines, relocate current warning signs and light them to make them more visible.
Joyce Zimdahl owns a business next to the railroad tracks, and her security cameras have captured several crashes.
“We just pray every time we hear that screeching that it’s not going to be big enough to hit one of our buildings,” Zimdahl said. “That would be really bad.”