HOT Hill Hiking & Fort Worth Train Traffic Vexations

It was 95 when I hit the Tandy Hills sometime around 3 this afternoon. A breeze was busy blowing so it did not feel too HOT.

And those big, puffy, cotton ball clouds took turns blocking the sun, which brought some HEAT relief.

I only hill hiked for about 45 minutes. When I had had enough I headed to the Beach Street Wal-Mart Supercenter. When I was stopped at the Randol Mill Road light, by Town Talk, I saw a slow moving freight train was blocking access to Wal-Mart.

So, I figured I'd go stand in the Town Talk cooler and maybe find something new, even though I was at Town Talk yesterday. Well, I found nothing new. I did cool off, and then left.

The train was still blocking Beach Street.

I did not want to get stuck in a train jam, and I needed to be at a particular location by 4:30. So, I headed back south on Beach Street and headed to an alternative Wal-Mart on Meadowbrook.

Now, what's bugging me right now is how can a large city, like Fort Worth, population over 700,000, allow trains to block major roads? Why are there not overpasses, or underpasses? Arlington is worse when a train comes through town.

The little town I lived in in Washington, Mount Vernon, had train tracks running north and south through town. And there were some roads that were blocked by the trains. But, Mount Vernon had at least 2, maybe 3, non-blocked alternatives, as in roads that went over the railroad tracks. And maybe one that went under, if I remember right.

I can't think of ever being stopped by a train in Seattle. I know a large part of the Seattle train tracks are underground in a tunnel, thus creating no traffic problems. You can get stopped by a train along the Tacoma waterfront, but, like Seattle, and unlike Fort Worth, there are ways around the train, overpasses and underpasses. And bridges.

I know part of the problem, here in Fort Worth. And Arlington, is the railroad tracks and roads were put in place long before so many people clogged up the place. And infrastructure adjustments have not kept pace with the population growth. So, freight trains slowly make their way across the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, wreaking havoc with the flow of traffic.

With the locals, apparently not realizing it doesn't have to be this way.

It's very perplexing.