GREENSVILLE COUNTY, Va. --Lin Pope said that a busy railroad crossing on Liberty Road in Greensville County had been an issue since he has worked for the county.
"We have a railroad crossing with a dead-end road and whenever a train has to stop for an emergency or anything, it blocks the crossing and the residents cannot access 301 or they can't get back to their houses.
For Pastor Valley Woodley, driving up on a stopped train isn't anything new. But Wednesday's all-day closing of the crossing brought many of the residents' fears to reality.
"I think yesterday was the worst. Because we did have someone that needed medical attention right then," Woodley said.
The medical emergency happened just minutes after Sheriff Tim Jarratt and the elderly woman's granddaughter helped her cross the tracks because no vehicles could pass. The woman, a heart patient, had to have an ambulance call for her.
For two decades, those who live and work across the tracks on the dead-end section of Liberty Road have been calling for another way to get in and out of their neighborhood.
"The Liberty Road project is our number one priority in our transportation plan," Pope said.
Pope said the only feasible way to add another way out on Liberty Road is to build a one-mile extension. When the project was looked at two years ago, it would have cost more than $7 million. The county would have had to pay half.
"It's a lot of money but then, I feel like as taxpayers, we're worth it, every cent of it," Woodley said.
Wednesday's medical emergency has now prompted the county to look for other funding sources, noting something like what happened then could happen again due to a stopped train.
"We are trying to find available state or federal funds for the construction project," Pope said.
Neighbors say that the time for a solution has come.
"We feel like our project is a life or death situation," Woodley said.
Greensville County's next board of supervisors meeting is expected to be a packed house. County leaders said they are reaching out to other federal and state agencies to try and find money to fix the problem.
