Vandals apparently responsible for damage to railroad crossing gate in Denver area, Union Pacific says

Malfunctioning crossing arms at a train crossing in the northeastern part of the Denver metro area caused major traffic backups on Tuesday afternoon.

The train crossing is at the intersection of Tower Road and Smith Road and just south of Interstate 70. The train tracks are owned by Union Pacific.

A spokesperson for company says they have investigated the situation and believe the railroad gates were damaged by vandals. They apologized for the "inconvenience" for drivers who were affected by the malfunction.

Crews with Union Pacific were working to make repairs.

"Each crossing is equipped with a fail safe, so when something like this happens, the default position is to lower to protect cars and pedestrians from entering the crossing," Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South said in a prepared statement.

Aurora police said drivers should avoid the area.