A 14-year-old in Oklahoma City has built a website that lets drivers report and check whether nearby railroad crossings are stopped, passing, or clear, aiming to spare commuters the frustration of getting stuck behind a freight train with no warning. Sawyer Bell developed OKC Train Alert, which currently covers three main locations and runs on community input from drivers who submit real-time crossing reports.
Bell got the idea from his mother after the family moved to Oklahoma City last summer, according to KOCO. He was inspired by her frustration with traffic stoppages caused by trains blocking the road, and she was the one who asked him to build a website that could address the problem. Bell created the site with help from artificial intelligence and monitors some of the crossings himself to keep the information current.
“There is a problem with trains stopping traffic in Oklahoma City,” Bell said, explaining that his website allows users to report blockages and help others plan around them. He said he hopes more drivers will start contributing information so the tool becomes more useful across the metro. Bell is now focused on turning the website into a full mobile app and plans to expand its coverage, though he says he currently lacks enough detailed information about the roads in the areas people have asked him to add.
Why Drivers Have No Other Real-Time Option
The gap Bell's website is filling isn't just inconvenience — it's a legal dead end for anyone hoping government could simply force trains to keep moving. Oklahoma tried to solve blocked-crossing delays in 2019 with a law fining railroads $1,000 for blocking an intersection longer than 10 minutes, but a federal judge ruled that statute unconstitutional in November 2020, finding it preempted by the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, according to Railfan & Railroad Magazine. BNSF Railway had sued the state after citations were issued to train crews in Edmond and Davis.
The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in June 2022, according to the Southwest Ledger, leaving that specific Oklahoma statute invalidated even though officials had argued it was necessary for public safety and emergency response times. With that specific statute invalidated, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission directs drivers stuck at a blocked crossing to file a report with the Federal Railroad Administration's online portal or call the emergency number posted on blue ENS signs. That guidance is separate from the live navigation help a tool like OKC Train Alert is built to provide.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, its crossing-inventory database can be queried by county or city, crossing type and crossing status. The Federal Railroad Administration also maintains a blocked-crossings incident reporter where the public can submit reports, according to the agency.
The Real Stakes Behind the Delays
The danger isn't hypothetical. A 2021 U.S. Senate Commerce Committee report analyzing Federal Railroad Administration data cited an incident in Davis, Oklahoma, where a stopped freight train blocked all three rail crossings in town at once, delaying a local police emergency response by 20 minutes. Nationwide, the same report found nearly 1,800 reports of crossings blocked for over an hour in 2020 alone.
BNSF operates roughly 952 route miles across Oklahoma, and Amtrak provides daily Heartland Flyer passenger service through the state. Oklahoma has approximately 3,475 public at-grade crossings statewide. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has also been involved in blocked-crossing matters.
Long-Term Fixes Are Years Away
State and local governments are pursuing permanent infrastructure solutions, but those projects move slowly and cost far more than a homemade website. In April 2026, regional transit organization ONE Transit and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation secured a $400,000 federal grant to evaluate safety and mobility across 52 at-grade rail crossings along the BNSF Red Rock Subdivision connecting Edmond, Oklahoma City, and Norman — the exact metro area where Bell is now fielding requests to expand his site. The study aims to identify which crossings need grade separation or other upgrades ahead of a possible future commuter rail vote.
A 2022 Oklahoma Department of Transportation document identified eight Oklahoma City crossings for at-grade railroad safety improvements, alongside crossings in Ponca City, Guthrie, Perry and Newkirk. The Federal Railroad Administration's Grade Crossing Toolkit is also available.
Physical fixes can carry a much steeper price tag and timeline than a homemade website. Highway-rail grade-crossing safety remains part of the broader infrastructure challenge. Closer to home, a stretch of SW 15th Street in south Oklahoma City was closed through September for BNSF crossing maintenance near Nowers Yard, disrupting commuters and access to the city's Central Maintenance Facility.
Until those bigger projects are finished, Bell is betting that community reporting can bridge the gap. He's asked residents in areas including Edmond and Moore about adding coverage there, and he says the site's usefulness will only grow as more drivers submit reports on which crossings are stopped, passing, or clear.
