GLENDALE, Ky. — It’s a Friday, which means the Glendale Antique Mall is usually pretty busy. But this Friday, owner Millie Baker, is dusting her merchandise. It’s slow here at the antique shop.
“Nobody’s going to come near Glendale to get in all this traffic and mess. So it hurts everyone when this happens. You know, it just really hurts our business,” Millie Baker.
Baker is referring to the train derailment, which occurred Thursday afternoon in Glendale. According to Kentucky State Police, the train was forced to pull its emergency brakes when semi-truck got stuck on the tracks.
This is the second time in eight months that a derailment has occurred in this small town.
The problem is with how steep the grade of the road is to cross the tracks. Residents say semi-trucks get stuck here frequently despite there being signs on the road say “No tractor trailers.”
A representative from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet told Spectrum News 1 that they have two possible solutions to help prevent this issue from happening again.
One solution is to raise both sides of the roadway so that the road is flat across the railroad track. The other solution is to build a bridge over the track.
But both these solutions are dependent on whether KYTC is awarded a grant to complete the project, which won’t be known until the fall.
Baker agrees that the town needs a plan to make sure this doesn’t become a common occurrence.
“We just need something for safety to protect our little town from this happening again,” Baker said.
Residents worry the new Ford battery plant being built about a mile down the road means there will be an increase of semi-truck traffic in the area. But KYTC says those trucks will be instructed to take a route that leads directly to the interstate.
According to the Hardin County Sherriff, the derailed train cars were transporting vehicles. No hazardous materials were onboard.