KALAMAZOO, MI — The city of Kalamazoo plans to install flashing lights and detour signs to help motorists escape gridlock caused when a freight train blocks car traffic downtown, according to a city engineer working on the project.

Freight trains that operate in downtown Kalamazoo have, for years, intermittently blocked traffic on a major east-west route through the city. At times, the trains have completely blocked traffic on Kalamazoo Avenue for hours, and have been seen moving back and forth several times at the railroad crossing before clearing the area.

The city’s solution is to install several signs that will begin automatically flashing a light when a train is passing through the railroad crossing downtown. Additionally, about 35 static detour signs will show drivers how to get around the train, according to a plan provided by Department of Public Works Assistant City Engineer Anthony Ladd.

“The way Kalamazoo is designed, there’s not a lot of major east west and north south corridors,” Ladd said. “When you have something like East Michigan Avenue here, your biggest east route, and your westbound coming from Gull Road to Riverview on down, when you have that blocked by a train for an unforeseen amount of time, something you can’t plan on, that was the beginning of trying to find out a solution for this.”

The new signs will show motorists the way around a train, though drivers are not required to follow the detour signs.

Commuters cannot plan for the delays, Ladd said, and trains blocking traffic have caused issues during busy times, like the morning commute.

The Kalamazoo Gazette has published articles about times when motorists were frustrated because a train was blocking traffic. In 2017, a train breakdown in April stopped cars for at least an hour, and another in September held up some drivers for nearly three hours.

Installation of the signs is expected to begin this year, Ladd said, and the system is expected to be running in the spring sometime.

The system will tie into existing sensors and software that signal when a train is present. The same equipment triggers the lights at a railroad crossing, he said.

Motorist were caught in a traffic jam on East Michigan Ave. for more than an hour on April 27, 2017. A freight train blocked both Michigan and Kalamazoo avenues as it sat and slowly moved back and forth on the tracks that connect the Grand Elk, Canadian National and Norfolk Southern railway lines which intersect in downtown Kalamazoo. A train breakdown on Sept. 29 caused more headaches for drivers on M-43 in downtown Kalamazoo, blocking traffic for nearly three hours. Kalamazoo GazetteKalamazoo Gazette

The project is funded by the Foundation For Excellence, which allocated $350,000 for the system in its 2019 budget, Foundation for Excellence Coordinator and Resource Specialist Steve Brown said.

Public Services Director James Baker said the total budgeted cost for the project is $350,000, and the city anticipates the project will be under that budgeted amount.

That means FFE funds will cover the entire project if it stays within the budget.

One of the signs that will route traffic around trains in Kalamazoo. (Courtesy | City of Kalamazoo)

The project aligns with multiple Imagine Kalamazoo strategic goals, particularly connected city, environmental responsibility, safe community, and economic vitality, Brown said.

“The more efficient that we can make transportation into and out of our neighborhoods and downtown, the less time is wasted on travel, the less air and noise pollution is created by cars waiting for trains to clear, the more vital our downtown and neighborhood edges are because of smooth traffic flow, and the safer traffic is because people are not rushing to make up for lost time or to beat a train on an alternate route,” Brown said in an email message.