Progressive Rail has lost its request to have a road closed in the Chippewa County town of Eagle Point, just northeast of Chippewa Falls. Progressive Rail filed a request with the state’s Office of the Commissioner of Railroads last September seeking a permanent closure of a 1-mile stretch of 95th Avenue, from Highway 124 to Highway 178, just west of Lake Wissota, allowing Progressive to expand its operations with a larger switching yard. Progressive Rail wants to put together 80- to 100-unit trains in that corridor. ... At the April hearing, Eagle Point fire Chief Rocky Berg said closing the road would have endangered safety.
Berg said there are occasions when emergency medical services workers are radioing each other, alerting others that roads are closed. Berg recalled one time when he sat at a blocked train crossing for 25 minutes, with his lights and siren on, but the train didn’t clear the road.