Railroad officials and local police are working together, hoping to get drivers on the right track when it comes to a unique train crossing near downtown Lawrence.

The railroad tracks that cross Sixth Street near Vermont Street appear unused, which can lull drivers into a false sense of security when approaching the train crossing.

“Our biggest problem is the motorists stopping on the tracks as we’re trying to move our railcars across,” said Kirby Brown, crew conductor for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

The slow-moving train makes its way across Sixth, Vermont and Massachusetts streets, sometimes as often as five times a week, as it creeps toward The World Company, 609 N.H., delivering newsprint.

The sight of a 100-ton train engine blocking Sixth Street is enough to catch drivers off guard.

“Our concern is somebody hitting us,” Brown said. “We will be going slow enough that we won’t hit them, but so often they come fast around the corner and they can’t get stopped and we’re out there crossing with two or three rail cars. With the engine weighing 100 tons and the cars at 60 tons each, motorists always lose in a collision.”

That was the case for a Lawrence woman, then 37, who was injured when her truck collided with the train at Sixth and Vermont streets back in April 2002. At the time she told police she had no idea a train would be coming through that intersection. She was treated for minor injuries at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Though accidents like that one are rare at the train crossing, railroad officials said traffic jams were almost an everyday occurrence. When the train approaches the intersection, it triggers red lights in all directions. If drivers are stopped on the tracks, nobody can go anywhere.

Railroad officials called in Lawrence police to take a look at the problem.

A Burlington Northern Santa Fe engine passes through the intersection near Sixth and Massachusetts streets while delivering newsprint to The World Company, 609 N.H. BNSF officials want drivers to be aware of the occasional train that passes through downtown and to pay attention to the posted signs telling drivers to not stop on the tracks at any time.

“Primarily on Sixth Street, vehicles are tending to stop on the tracks,” police spokesman Sgt. Dan Ward said. “As long as the train is there the lights will stay red, and the train can’t go through. It’s a stalemate situation.”

The city’s traffic engineer, David Woosley, said new signs were placed near the railroad crossings in an effort to ease the congestion. One sign in each direction telling drivers not to stop on the tracks went up Nov. 18.

The signs only cost about $50 apiece, but railroad officials hope they’ll pay off in a big way.

“When drivers encounter a red signal, if they would stop on either side of the tracks then we could proceed on through, and everybody benefits,” Brown said.

After all, police said, it is the law.

“The law says you need to stop about 15 feet or more away from the nearest rail,” Ward said.

Now that the signs are up warning drivers not to stop on the tracks, Lawrence Police plan on doing educational enforcement during peak times.

“We want to educate individuals that it is an active track and that stopping on the track does cause congestion, and they need to be at least 15 feet from the rail,” Ward said. “We will take an educational approach to inform the public and then at a certain time we will start issuing citations.”