Pat Murphy just wants some answers.
The martial arts instructor has lived at 541 E. Main St. in Sun Prairie with his family for 25 years. But for the past year, he's been a wreck. A train wreck, to be precise.
Murphy fears what will happen when the high-speed rail line proposed for Milwaukee to Madison begins running. His house is a mere 40 feet from the tracks.
"For a year now, I've been trying to find out what's going to happen to my family and my home," he says. "I still have no answers."
Freight trains traveling about 5 mph already go by his house, sometimes causing it to shake. He worries life will be unbearable if those trains are speeding by at more than 100 mph.
Murphy would rather the state condemn the property and buy him out than leave him with a house he can't live in or sell. "We're not that particular about where we live, we just don't want to live there," he says. "I've asked everyone, and I've been really nice. Everybody who said they'd get back to me, now they won't."
Paul Trombino, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation, says he's just arranged a meeting with Murphy that will include a visit to his house. As it stands, there are no plans to condemn any property.
"I need to understand Mr. Murphy's situation," Trombino says. "There are a lot of property owners we expect to meet with along the way to make sure we're addressing their concerns."
