Since 2001, trains have hit three vehicles on the tracks that cross Chenoweth Lane near the Westport Road intersection, resulting in one death and an injury; countless other vehicles have been hit by crossing gates.

But changes are in the works for the crossing.

Federal safety guidelines require the state Highway Department to fix the problem, and according to Krista Seymour, spokeswoman for the department's Louisville district, the crossing has become the top priority among safety issues in the state.

Highway officials have been studying the problem for nearly a year, and Seymour said they are working with CSX to coordinate track sensors with traffic signals to make traffic lights on southbound Chenoweth turn green when a train is approaching and stay green until it has passed in order to keep vehicles from being stopped on the tracks. Traffic in other directions, including northbound Breckenridge Lane, would be stopped.

To try to lessen the backup that changes in signaling would cause, the highway department has proposed making westbound Westport into a right-turn-only street at Chenoweth. Traffic would no longer cross Chenoweth to get to Frankfort Avenue; instead, it would be re-routed on St. Matthews Avenue.

Highway department officials recently discussed other possible solutions to the safety issue with the St. Matthews City Council, said Seymour.

St. Matthews Mayor Arthur Draut said that none of the solutions were very appealing, but because of federal guidelines "something is going to happen."

Seymour said that the project could cost several hundred thousand dollars, but it would be federally funded, and therefore not dependent on the Highway Department's budget. Action should be taken within the year.

In the meantime, Seymour said that drivers should keep in mind that flashing lights at railroad crossings mean to stop, and that once the lights are flashing, the gates could come down at any time.

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