Woodhaven train crossing ties up traffic for 45 minutes at a time. Now a fix is coming.

A Woodhaven train crossing that has tied up traffic for decades — and potentially even put lives in danger because emergency vehicles couldn't get to the other side quick enough — is getting a bridge, a room full of overjoyed officials announced Monday.

The train has been such a problem that in an emergency, Woodhaven Police Chief Robert Toth said one of the first things police dispatchers do is check to see whether a Canadian National train is running near Allen Road.

If it is, officers take another route.

"This will definitely help public safety," Toth said, adding that first responders are trained to avoid the intersection in an emergency, such as getting to a crime scene or getting a patient to the hospital. "It will be a huge relief."

On average, officials say, more than 30,000 vehicles, including more than 2,100 commercial trucks on Allen cross the tracks a day, and it's common to wait up to 45 minutes for the train. Once, in 2014, a train blocked the crossing for more than six hours.

Officials said the plan is to build a bridge and lower the road 20 feet, so cars can pass on Allen under the train crossing without holding up traffic. The proposed solution will take up to $39 million — in federal, state and local money — and three years.

"I'm pleased we were able to bring all levels of government together to finally broker a solution," Wayne County Executive Warren Evans announced with others during a break in the Downriver Economic Development Summit in Taylor. "This is a key artery to one of our busiest commercial and industrial corridors and the delays have created headaches for residents, businesses, and visitors for years."

Evans, along with Woodhaven Mayor Patricia Odette, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, state Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit and state Rep Darrin Camilleri, D-Brownstown, said that if approved by the city council and county commission, the agreement would end delays.

It also, they promised, is part of a bigger push toward more regional cooperation that they say will focus on enhancing development and infrastructure throughout metro Detroit and particularly Downriver, including enhancements to other train crossings, overpass and waterway bridges, and roadway improvements.

Odette said the trains bring the city "to a standstill" several times a day, causing problems not just for emergency vehicles, but for school buses, and businesses.

The project, officials said, has two parts: building a bridge for the railway and road construction.

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Of the $39 million or more price tag, officials estimate, about $8 million is coming from a federal grant, up to $10 million from Wayne County, $12 million from the state, and up t0 $10.25 million from the City of Woodhaven.

"There are a number of serious train issues Downriver where railroads block intersections," Dingell said, recalling that her late husband, John Dingell, long championed projects to address the problem. "This is just the beginning and we have much work ahead of us."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.