METAIRIE, La. — A train coming around the bend makes for a good country music lyric.
Not so much if you happen to get caught in traffic at the Metairie Road crossing in Jefferson Parish.
“Very frustrating, nerve racking,” said Lisa Hoefer.
Hoefer lives and works near the tracks and crosses them several times a day.
She agrees a train always seems to be blocking the crossing when she’s in a hurry.
“It does, always,” Hoefer said. “Right when you’re late or rushing to an appointment.”
Thursday, Jefferson Parish Councilmember Jennifer Van Vrancken unveiled a first-of-its-kind train tracking app.
It sends real-time information to your mobile phone, letting you know when a train is approaching Metairie Road from either direction.
The app also uses the existing online camera at the crossing.
“It’s essentially two radar detectors at points along the track,” Van Vrancken said. “When they see a large metal object moving at a certain speed it calculates the time that it will take for that train to hit this Metairie Road crossing.”
The train tracker is scalable, and the hope is to eventually include all of Jefferson train crossings on the app.
St. Bernard Councilmember At Large Kerri Callais says the technology may also work at the two railroad crossings in Arabi.
“See if it’s clear on Judge Perez or on St. Claude, make that decision and plan a little better for your day,” Callais said. “At least you have that information.”
The “Move Metairie Tracking Forward” app is a free download for both Apple and Android phones.
“It’s great,” Hoefer said. “I already have it downloaded on my phone.”
Van Vrancken’s Council District Improvement Fund paid to develop the train tracker app and for the equipment used at the Metairie Road crossing.
The price tag was about $200,000.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.