CHESTER, S.C. — For commuters, it's a nightmare. Freight trains are stopping in the heart of downtown Chester, and sometimes they'll sit for 30 minutes or longer.
"You can't go anywhere. You just sit and sit and sit," said Diane Albert, who owns a flower shop on Gadsden Street.
Her store is close to the railroad tracks, and she watches frustrated drivers every day.
"My parking lot is just one big turnaround for people," she said.
Some people call it Chester's biggest problem and it’s nothing new. Trains have been blocking traffic for as long as people can remember.
Usually once a day, the l & C Railroad switches out cars in downtown Chester with a Norfolk Southern line. They've been doing that there for more than a century. When it happens, at least three major crossings are blocked and sometimes it's a long wait.
Troop Sanders runs into it a lot, and like everyone else, tries to get around the stopped train.
"I have tried to cross here, couldn't, go around to another crossing, couldn't cross there," he said. "They need to do something."
The Public Service Commission, which governs certain issues involving rail traffic, found an old state law that deals with trains blocking traffic.
Section 58-17-4080 highlights a penalty and damages for obstruction of highway by railroad car, locomotive or other object.
“If any person, including any conductor of any train of railroad cars, shall obstruct unnecessarily any public road or highway for a longer period than five minutes, after notice to remove such cars has been given, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offense any sum not exceeding $20 nor less than $5,” the statute reads.
The fine, as low as it is, is up to local law enforcement, who must directly cite the engineer of the train while it's stopped. The magistrate level offense is almost never issued.
Todd Burchette, president of Gulf and Ohio Railways, which owns the l & C, told Channel 9 the company has never been fined for blocking roads, and he wasn't aware of that state law.
Burchette said they realize the time it takes to switch out rail cars and is an inconvenience. However, safety procedures don't allow them to speed up the process. They try to minimize the delays as much as possible, he said.
Another issue is emergency vehicles responding to 911 calls. The county's emergency management director, Eddie Murphy, said their crews have learned to react when the route is impassible.
"We always try to notify 911 to keep that in mind, send them another way somewhere around the bypass," Murphy said.
Murphy also said that the railroads are a product of the once-booming textile industry, and they were in place long before major highways and the growing population.
"Our way of life has changed, and I think we want this instant, keep me going, got-to-get-there type thing," he said. "This bothers people a lot more now than it used to."
The city of Rock Hill has this same issue downtown but not as many intersections are blocked. There are more ways for drivers to get around it.
State lawmakers have discussed this issue with the railroad over the years. Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, told Channel 9 ownership and right-of-way are key issues.
"They own the rails and the property, and they have the right-of-way," Simrill said. "The trains are considered the primary vehicle."
Burchette said the l & C does pull its trains forward if they hear sirens and emergency vehicles need to get through. He said they will also unhook cars to create space for emergency vehicles if possible.
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