According to the minutes of a non-public meeting between the DOT, the Department of Environmental Conservation and some town officials, the state agencies have again concluded that the at-grade railroad crossing at Ferry Road cannot be made safe, and must be closed. That would leave the three occupied homes there unreachable by emergency vehicles, and subject to purchase and removal by the state under eminent domain. Two of those properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the document, acquired under the Freedom Of Information Law, DOT Acting Region 8 Director Bill Gorton and Grade Crossing Section Director Ed Rosen “elaborated that no real option exists at Ferry Road besides purchasing the properties and closing the crossing. All other options are extremely cost-prohibitive.” A judge ruled in 1996 that the crossing was unsafe, but that ruling was updated in 2006 to say the crossing couldn’t be closed until a connector road was built to Ice House Road, a short distance to the north. DEC officials at the meeting discounted that possibility, saying “there is little lee-way in terms of rearranging the road/rail configuration at Ferry Road due to adjacent wetlands,” according to the minutes. Read the entire article in the Register-Star.