DETROIT – A train is blocking a roadway in Detroit after coming off the tracks, which practically sunk into the ground, according to officials.
The train has been stuck since around 5 p.m. Tuesday. Officials said the tracks sunk into the ground, disabling the train and causing backups along Outer Drive at 7 Mile and 8 Mile roads.
There's a hole under the tracks and when the freight train crossed East Outer Drive on Tuesday, the tracks gave way, causing the train to jump off the rail.
The steel ripped chunks out of the pavement before the train eventually came to a stop.
"It's been like that for five months," resident Brian Harmon said. "I'm surprised the train collapsed today."
Workers with Canadian National were at the scene trying to determine the best way to get the train moving again.
"The train just couldn't make it over, just like a car couldn't make it over," Harmon said.
Drivers who frequent the crossing insisted that the train tracks have been a problem for months and little was done to fix the crumbling concrete.
"Every time you go across the train tracks, you've got to slow down or your car is going to fall in," said Cordell Hill, who works near the train tracks. "It was steel kind of breaking where the concrete was some of everything. The whole thing was a mess. It wasn't a clean train track to ride on."
Now, no trains are moving on the track. At one point, the long freight train blocked several crossings, including 7 Mile Road, for a few hours.
It forced Detroit Department of Transportation buses to make U-turns and inconvenienced several drivers.
With nightfall, more engineers arrived, but the problem still wasn't resolved, leaving many residents to wonder how long the roadway will be blocked.
"This shows you how severe this was," Harmon said. "Look at this -- a whole train."
