No one likes getting stuck at a railroad crossing, especially when they have somewhere to be. 

Mary Behr of Woodhaven says it’s a hassle when she has to wait for a train to cross Allen Road north of Van Horn Rd.

“You sometimes sit there up to 30 minutes waiting for that train to move,” Behr says. “Many times I’ve had to call the doctor and say, ‘I’m on my way, but I was caught by the train, I’m going to be late.'”

Wayne County, which maintains Allen Road, says the average delay lasts about 10 minutes. 30 is not uncommon. In 2014, one delay lasted more than 6 hours.

The problem and the solution

The source of the tie-ups is the frequency of trains passing through Canadian National Railway‘s yard in Flat Rock about a mile away. Longer delays can happen depending on the length and speed of a train. 

To fix the problem, Wayne County will close Allen Road. in March 2026 for what Public Services Director Dayo Akinyemi calls a grade separation project.

“We’re going to bring the train traffic at an elevation higher than the vehicular traffic,” Akinyemi says. 

That means closing Allen Road and lowering it by about 20 feet and building a new railroad bridge over it. Akinyemi and his team brought maps and diagrams of the project to an open house at the Woodhaven Community Center on March 5.

David Horn came to learn more about it. He’s lived here for 43 years and says it’s long overdue.

“We need it bad,” Horn says. “Because you get a train across those tracks, and if it stalls, stays in one spot, you got all this traffic backing up on both ends.”

Those backups sometimes include emergency vehicles. Woodhaven Police Chief Jeff Brust says his officers have learned how not to get stuck. Sometimes, that means using I-75.

“We know when to divert around the tracks,” Brust says. “We have video in all of our cars that has a live feed on the tracks themselves. So once they’re dispatched to a call, they look immediately at the tracks. If Allen’s blocked, they know they can go to Van Horn. In this case with Allen being blocked, they’ll get on the freeway.”

Pack your patience

Van Horn Road is part of Wayne County’s official Allen Road construction detour. Trains will still cross both roads during the grade separation. But the county says it’s working with CN to ensure there’s no additional traffic disruption. 

Akinyemi says it’ll take time for drivers to find a detour that works for them.

“We’ll just ask people to have some patience with us,” Akinyemi says. “This is going to be a short-term pain for a long-term gain.”

Akinyemi stresses that businesses on Allen Rd. north of the closure will remain open during the $85 million project, which he hopes will be finished by the end of 2028.

Residents can stay updated on Wayne County’s Engage Allen Road project website.

Late last year, Rogelio Landin ran for mayor of Detroit on a simple platform: the city should annex some of its surrounding communities. Detroit needs people, and those suburbs need money. With annexation, the city could expand and gain more revenue to share with its new residents.

Landin didn’t get many votes, but the idea was provocative. What if metro Detroit acted more like a coherent region, instead of dozens of separate municipalities all going it alone? What could that unlock?

Rogelio Landin spoke with Robyn Vincent about that and more.

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Wayne County Executive Warren Evans will deliver his annual State of the County address on Wednesday night.

During his speech, Evans is expected to share key updates, accomplishments, and plans for Wayne County’s future.

The State of the County address will begin at 7 p.m. Watch the livestream below or tune in to 101.9 FM WDET.