Santa Maria Valley Railroad concerned about public safety after several close calls

A number of close calls between trains and cars has the Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVR) worried a collision could soon happen.

“Our biggest concern right now is public safety at the crossings,” said SMVR general manager Al Sheff.

Brakeman Keith Summers has worked on the railroad for the past seven months. He’s already seen a number of close calls.

“People just don’t stop for the gates anymore,” Summers said. “They don’t want to stop when you see a gate coming down. It’s getting out of hand.”

Santa Maria Valley Railroad operates 14 miles of track around the city, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The 107-year-old railroad hauls everything from produce, agricultural products, building materials, chemicals and much more.

The railroad cuts through the city at several busy roads, including Betteravia Rd. and McCoy Ln., which Sheff said are the two most dangerous intersections.

“Those are the two that really concern us based on the traffic speed and the public being unaware of what they should do at the crossings,” said Sheff. “We’ve had the gate at Betteravia hit twice and we’ve had the gate at McCoy hit three times. It’s just a rash of gates getting hit.”

He added people are speeding up in an effort to beat a train across the tracks. It’s a dangerous situation that could have deadly consequences.

“It equates to train versus car and I’m pretty sure we know who’s going to win,” said Sheff.

In an effort to educate drivers, SMVR is making a public plea to educate people about train safety.

“Once the gates are activated and the red lights start to flash, the public is suppose to stop at the crossings and they’re suppose to stay stopped until the train gets through and the red lights stop flashing,” said Sheff.

He added that it’s not only cars who are creating issues for the railroad.

“There’s also close calls with people,” said Sheff. “People think you can just stop right now and you just can’t stop. It can take up to a mile to stop.”

In addition to dangerous driving, SMVR said it is also dealing with several other issues, including homelessness, trespassing, vandalism, theft and trash dumping.

“People leave trash everywhere,” Summers said. “We have to go an allocate a day every week just to clean-up. You name, we found it. Trash, needles. It’s getting out of hand.”

Sheff added they had a clean-up recently that cleared out a homeless camp along the tracks near Betteravia Rd. that had a staggering amount of stuff.

“It took four guys, a backhoe, a dump truck and we hauled away 2,600 pounds of trash from one person alone.”

He also pointed out graffiti is a never-ending problem that is widespread throughout the railroad system.

“It’s everywhere,” said Sheff. “You just can’t stop it. No matter where you put the cars, somebody will show up and vandalize them in someway, shape or form, whether it’s the cars, whether it’s the property or the fencing.”

Another major area of concern is a rise in trespassing.

Both Sheff and Summers point out that it’s illegal to not only be on the rails, but also the immediate surrounding area around the tracks.

“This is railroad property,” said Summers. “Do not come on the tracks, you are still trespassing.”

Anyone who is caught on railroad property can be cited by police.

Santa Maria Valley Railroad is hoping the public can become more aware of train safety and take their advice on what they should do if they see a train while driving or walking.

“The trains are big and heavy and they just can’t stop,” Sheff said. “If the lights start to flash, you need to stop and don’t try to race the gates and stay stopped until the lights stop flashing, not when the gates start to move.”