LEEDS – Combine a 4-inch-deep pothole and a set of railroad tracks, and you get a particularly nasty spot in the road.

That’s the situation facing drivers along Route 106 in Leeds, just about anywhere the road runs into the Maine Central Railroad line, says Adrian Marden, who lives in neighboring Greene.

“If you slow down so you don’t just clean out the entire front of your car, the people behind you don’t stop,” said Marden. “They’re not expecting it. People just shoot around you, not paying any attention to the fact they’re crossing a railroad.”

Town crews and workers from Maine Central Railroad may be ready to do something about it. They are scheduled to begin replacing the road at Curtis Corner – where Route 106, Bog Road and Bishop Hill Road meet the train tracks – next week. That’s one of the worst examples in town, Marden said.

Leeds crews will work to repave Bog Road leading up to the tracks, according to town Administrative Assistant Jane Wheeler.

The railroad will replace the crossing itself, said Executive Vice President David Fink.

The project initially was set to begin last week, but work on a bridge through Kennebunk this summer delayed the railroad’s schedule, Fink said.

“The issues we had in July pretty much shut us down,” he said. “But it’s work we will do.”

According to federal rules, the railroads are responsible for maintaining their tracks, even where they cross state roads. That means that state crews do not repair asphalt within 18 inches of a train track.

Rob Elder, director of the Maine Department of Transportion’s railroad freight office, said there are railroad crossing problems throughout the state. State officials can only make note of the problems and ask the railroads to fix them.

Marden, who is building a home on Bishop Hill Road, just up from Curtis Corner, said he was frustrated by the delay in the railroad’s repair schedule.

“It’s enough of a safety issue, somebody should have taken care of it long ago,” he said. “To me, inconveniences should take a back seat, but safety issues need to be resolved immediately.”

State Rep. Rodney Jennings, D-Leeds, said he understood Marden’s frustration but was confident that the problem would be fixed quickly. He met with railroad officials earlier this month to discuss the problem and they promised to fix it.

“You have to let them work through the process,” Jennings said. “People can’t just go up with a hammer and a set of spikes and start fixing a railroad. I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt, and we’ll see what happens.”