ANCHORAGE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Trains are a big part of Kathy Kerpestein's life.
Her home along Old La Grange Road near Anchorage faces a busy stretch of CSX railroad where trains come and go from the nearby Kentucky Ford Truck Plant daily.
"We love the trains. Our son's a train fanatic, and so this is great for him," she said. "On average, I would say we have anywhere from 15 to 20 trains [a day]."
However, there's a problem. She said at least once a day, a train will stop and block the road she and hundreds of others use to get to La Grange Road: Lucas Lane.
"Sometimes, we have stoppages two or three times during the day," she said.
What's even more frustrating is she and others say the crossing wouldn't even be blocked sometimes if the parking train would just move up the tracks by about 10 more feet.
"There are people that have had to make a two-mile round-trip that has literally taken over an hour if the trains block the intersections, particularly when shift change happens at the Ford plant," Councilman Markus Winkler (D-District 17) said.
Winkler, who represents the area, said the daily problem is spawning headaches and road rage.
"It creates complete and total gridlock," he said.
He said the gridlock is especially bad because many of the Ford workers leaving work get caught by the frequent roadblock too.
"Sometimes, we're talking eight hours on a Saturday where that intersection is blocked," Winkler said.
Winkler said he met with CSX and Ford earlier in the week and thinks the three of them worked out ways to stop blocking the crossings.
"To CSX and Ford's credit, they want to be great neighbors," he said.
Kerpestein is happy to return the favor.
"We should all be really glad we've got Ford Truck Plant and we've got CSX," she said.
Winkler said neighbors should start to see changes in just about a week or two.
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