Local leaders tackle long-standing train crossing woes in northwest Tarrant County
EAGLE MOUNTAIN – For two decades, a northwest Tarrant County neighborhood has faced a significant issue — a train problem.
Over the past year, a single train crossing has left residents stranded for hours, as it serves as the only entry and exit point for the neighborhood.
Thankfully, Tarrant County leaders are stepping up to find a solution.
Jeff Kennedy, a Southwest Airlines pilot who has lived in the neighborhood of Vista Ranch for years, admits he is always on a time crunch to catch his flight.
"The main reason I go to work is to connect people to their destinations, whether it be for an anniversary or a birthday," Kennedy explains to CBS News Texas.
However, Kennedy says his commute has become cumbersome in recent years. Vista Ranch, a lollipop neighborhood, has only one road for entry and exit, which is intersected by a train crossing.
Back in September, Kennedy and other residents were stuck for hours. Kennedy believes the train sometimes loses too much momentum from a nearby hill, causing the locomotive to routinely get stuck. He says the neighborhood has contacted the train company multiple times but has not received any realistic solutions.
"I was sitting right there for four hours trying to get home," Kennedy said. "If you had an emergency, like a medical emergency, and you can't get through, now this is a safety problem."
The train crossing has also plagued other residents, including Matt Baldwin.
"We've had residents with doctors' appointments and kids on buses who were not able to get home. We are frustrated," Baldwin said.
So, what's the solution? The answer now lies in the hands of Precinct 4 Commissioner Manny Ramirez.
"We are actually building a new road," Ramirez said.
Ramirez says the county has bought the land needed to build a brand-new road that will go north and south from Tinsley Lane to Peden Road in Eagle Mountain. He says his office was able to move the project along faster by buying land that belonged to only one owner. He also says he kept the cost down by utilizing existing county employees for the project.
"We know the more we invest in the roadways around here, the safer the community is going to be and the easier it's going to be to get around," Ramirez said.
In addition, Ramirez also says the project could pave the way for future development. He predicts 5,000 to 10,000 new homes could be built in northwest Tarrant County soon and admits the county needs to be proactive.
"There are multiple tracts of land for sale — all of them are going to be housing developments," Ramirez said. "The focus is on getting as much infrastructure in place as possible before the rooftops come. We call the plan 'roads before rooftops.' If we do that, we don't have to play catch up."
Kennedy admits he's eager for the new road and hopes it ends his commute anxiety.
"I feel relief that somebody's actually being proactive about it," Kennedy said.
However, Baldwin and other neighbors have mixed feelings and tell CBS News Texas they are slightly worried better roads could lead to too much growth in the area.
"We don't want to install a road and have safety — and then some of the land around the community is purposed with high-density housing or infrastructure that does not support us," Baldwin said. "I hope the county will work with us on that."
As of now, the new road is still in the engineering stages, but county leaders hope to start moving dirt on the project by the end of 2024.