PLYMOUTH, Mich. – The City of Plymouth has been experiencing train troubles for years.
Trains have been causing long delays -- sometimes more than an hour long. Despite pushes from business owners and elected officials, a solution could still be a long way away.
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At HALE Strength and Shape, located off Main Street, the women-only gym hits personal records just as much as train delays.
“Even first thing in the morning, we start at 5:45 and I’ll be getting to work around 5:25,” said Kurt Hessenbruch. “And I’ll pull up and there’s a train and before you know it class is starting late and everything starts to run behind because of that.”
Gym members never know how long they’ll be stuck waiting at the tracks.
“It’s very frustrating especially when you know you have to be someplace and the class starts at a certain time and you have no control over it,” said Ginny Porter.
“The other day, when it was snowing, I hadn’t brushed my car off and I actually got out and brushed the snow off,” said April Dono. “There was plenty of time. I could’ve done the whole row. It’s a lot and when you have to be someplace it’s really stressful.”
Jeff Stokes owns a business a block away from HALE, right next to the tracks on Main Street.
“I’ve seen trains stalled 45 minutes and cars backed up all the way down both lights,” Stokes said.
Local leaders can’t do anything since trains are interstate transportation and regulated by the federal government.
“Trains should not be able to block interactions for hours at a time, it’s unacceptable and it can become life-threatening,” said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. “When I meet with the Federal Railroad Administration, they tell me that it’s not in their power and there’s some regulations. I have pushed them very hard to try to do something, obviously, everybody is looking at this again and it will give me some more pressure that I can apply to show how frustrated, angry, people are, but in the end, we have got to pass legislation.”
Shirley Keller has lived in Plymouth for 24 years and owns Perfect Paw’s Pet Salon. When her clients or groomers get stuck at the train, she has to accommodate all those extra pets.
“I didn’t know there were so many trains until I moved down here, opened my business down here and I was like, wow,” Keller said.
She said over the last 24 years, the problem has gotten worse.
“More frequent, longer trains, slower trains or you see trains stopped and people have to finagle another way to get around,” Keller said.
Over the years, Dingell said she’s held countless meetings with the Michigan Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, state legislators and local leaders.
“You end up in meetings where everybody is pointing the fingers at everybody else and saying they don’t have the ability to change or to regulate what has to be done,” Dingell recalled.
“I would like it if we had some local control, and if our complaints and grievances, if they could take action on it,” Dono said. “Cause it’s not like they’re not listening to us. The city and local legislators, they know how inconvenienced we are, but they’re powerless about it they can’t do anything about it.”
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