About 12:30pm today, the railroad crossing at Slater Road was closed due to slow-moving track maintenance equipment rolling down the rails. This unexpected roadblock resulted in backups in both directions. Fortunately, the closure was temporary and the crossing has since reopened.
According to a spokesperson for BNSF Railway, the Slater Road crossing is expected to be closed “for one hour over two days” to move track surfacing equipment.
Seeing there are flaggers at other railroad crossing locations in Ferndale today, Discover Ferndale is checking to see if these other crossing locations are going to be similarly impacted. Will update here when more information is available. The BNSF spokesperson confirmed other crossings would be impacted as well.
Update 2:10pm
While a second response from BNSF is still being waited on, work crews with slow-moving equipment have been seen making their way northbound on the rails. One crew is approaching the Hovander Road crossing and another appears to have recently crossed the Washington Street crossing and is heading toward Brown Road.
Update 2:55pm
The southern-most work crew just cleared Main Street. Flaggers momentarily stopped traffic in case the equipment would inadvertently toss a rock into the street from the overpass. At the rate it is going, it will reach the Washington Street crossing about 3:30pm. Video below of the machinery in action.
