Recently, it came to light there has been an on-going problem with illegal trespassing on the railroad tracks on Neeley St. near the Saline County Jail.  Most people don’t realize the danger they are placing themselves in by doing this and that it is against the law.   Union Pacific Railroad officials, Saline County Sheriff Bruce Pennington, Benton Police Chief Kirk Lane, and Benton Mayor Rick Holland met to discuss this on-going problem. 

    It is important to remember that railroad tracks, yards, and equipment are private property and you should stay off of them.  There were 434 railroad trespassing related fatalities in 2009 alone.  In Arkansas last year there were 9 crossing related fatalities, and 22 crossing and trespassing related injuries.  These are injuries and fatalities that could be avoided if people would obey the traffic signals and not trespass on railroad property. 

    The only legal and safe place to cross railroad tracks is at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings.  The location in this instance, Neeley St., has numerous orange barricades and No Trespassing signs posted to warn people to stay away.  The Second St. overpass is only a few blocks away and was built with a pedestrian walkway on it for this purpose. 

    You might be wondering why I’m addressing this issue when there are so many other “more serious” crimes occurring.  The safety of our citizens is of the upmost importance to us and we want to help educate them on both the dangers of trespassing on railroad property and the fact that trespassing is a crime punishable by law. 

    This is something we will be trying to educate everybody on through various avenues, such as teaching classes in the schools about railroad safety in conjunction with Union Pacific Railroad.   Union Pacific Railroad is also in the process of adding or replacing safety devices in the area and our department will be doing a more concentrated enforcement effort in the near future.  The goal of this is not to write more tickets, but to hopefully have to take minimal enforcement action because of our education efforts beforehand. 

Remember, although I’m just addressing one specific location the laws are the same no matter where you go regarding railroad crossings and property.  If you would like more information on railroad safety you can go to the Operation Lifesaver website at:  www.oli.org