Canadian National Railway won't make permanent repairs on two bumpy crossings until next year, an Outagamie County, Wis., official says, the Appleton Post-Crescent reports. In an e-mail message this past week, CN let the county know it ran out of time to fix the crossings, said Ray Palonen, deputy highway commissioner.

The county's demand for a fix on three troublesome crossings goes back to March. Only one of the three was repaired.

Here's a county snapshot of the two crossings in need of repairs:

o No repairs have been made on the County J crossing south of County OO in the town of Kaukauna. The crossing is still rough and frost likely will raise the pavement along the timbers.
o No repairs have been made on the west track on County BB east of Bluemound Drive in Grand Chute. There are potholes and pavement deterioration along timbers, and timbers are in need of replacement.

"We'll just 
have to try to buffer those joints as best we 
can with some temporary materials until they 
get them repaired," Palonen said. He said a 
railroad spokesman indicated CN fully intended to make repairs but "ran out of time."


Jackie Macewicz, CN's manager of public 
works based in Stevens Point, did not return a 
telephone call seeking comment.

Thomas 
Running, a representative with the state Office 
of the Commissioner of Railroads, said it 
meets regularly with railroads.

"One of our top 
priorities at these meetings is making sure 
the railroad is on top of crossing repairs," he 
said. "Statutorily, railroads are not required to 
repair crossings through the winter months." 


A third Outagamie County crossing, on 
County S east of County A in Center, was 
adequately repaired with the re-fastening of 
timbers, the county said.

Palonen said frost 
gets beneath the pavement and plays havoc 
with the driving surface.

"Last winter when you 
crossed the County J crossing, you had to

drive really slow. We had 'bump' signs up all 
winter," he said. "We had to put cold mix in 
there."

No one was thrown out of control due 
to the problem, but the county received a raft 
of complaints from motorists who use the 
route, he said. Palonen said County J, 
accessible off U.S. 41, is a frequently used 
route by truck traffic serving paper mills in 
the Heart of the Valley.