HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Huron Township Trustee R.P. Lilly said the CSX train comes through and stops to load up new automobiles everyday.
Sometimes it's a 15-minute wait. On Friday, it was an hour wait while watching traffic back up all the way onto Interstate 275.
"It's terribly frustrating," said Lilly. "You feel like you're trapped in your own community, your own neighborhood."
There is no way easy around it.
"I go to Huron River Drive -- it's blocked. I go to Sibley -- it's blocked. I have to go all the way to Eureka (Road) just to get out of my community," said Lilly.
The problem gets worse in Woodhaven on Allen Road off Interstate 75 where multiple times a day trains stop even heavier traffic. Anita Huttmiller's drive to work has been a hassle for 30 years.
"Traffic is backed up for miles in every direction," she said.
The city of Woodhaven has applied for a federal TIGER grant to try to pay for a $30 million grade separation to go either under or over the tracks.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell's office said $10 million has been earmarked already and it is applying for $15 million more.
With no grant on the horizon for Huron Township, folks there worry about what might happen.
"My fear is one day someone is going to die because the ambulance or the rescue service will be trapped and they won't be able to get to them," said Lilly.
Federal law allows trains to block a road for 8 hours
Local governments such as Woodhaven used to be able to write the railroads a ticket after 15 minutes. It was state law. However, about 10 years ago that law was thrown out and now, under the federal interstate commerce laws, trains can block an intersection for up to 8 hours if the want to.