When the Union Pacific Railroad announced plans to quadruple the speed of freight trains rumbling through Harvard, city officials immediately began pushing the state to bolster safety at a highly-traveled crossing downtown.
The Illinois Commerce Commission, the agency that oversees rail line safety, was cool to Harvard’s request to install flashing warning signals and gates at the Diggins Street crossing without first holding a public hearing on the improvements.
Six months later, Harvard officials find themselves baffled about why it has taken so long for the commission to approve even these simple safety measures. Nearly 3,000 vehicles, including seven school buses, pass through the intersection each day.
The issue is likely to flare up again Thursday when Harvard officials, including Mayor Ralph Henning, meet with commerce commission staff in Chicago at a public hearing to begin exploring what steps should be taken to improve safety at the crossing.
During the meeting, commission staff are expected to get an earful from Henning and Harvard City Administrator David Nelson about the delays.
“We just think some things could be done to make the crossing safer and it has taken a long time to get it done,” Nelson said. “We hope to get this resolved.”
Nelson said the city had proposed installing 15-foot mechanical metal gates to prevent vehicles and pedestrians from entering the tracks when trains are passing, but that proposal has gone nowhere.
The issue of train speeds first surfaced in Harvard in August, when railroad officials announced they would be raising the speed of their freight trains to 40 m.p.h. from 10 m.p.h. Railroad officials said the higher speeds would enable them to improve scheduling and the transportation of cargo.
“We are attempting to increase the speed of our trains all over the county, not just in Harvard,” said Ed Trandahl, a spokesman for the railroad. “It’s designed to improve our productivity.”
Trandahl said while Union Pacific supports making safety improvements at the Diggins Street crossing, they are prohibited from making any changes on their own. The railroad supports the installation of a gate at the crossing to prevent traffic from entering the tracks when trains are approaching.
Two lanes of Diggins Street cross the railroad tracks in northwest Harvard. The crossing, recently posted with bright railroad crossing signs, is nestled amid several abandoned buildings, making it difficult for traffic to see approaching trains.
State commerce commission officials said they haven’t delayed making improvements at the Diggins Street crossing. Holding a public hearing is a part of the regulatory process that must be followed before changes can be made to a grade crossing.
“The hearing is being convened to determine what kind of improvements are needed, and which parties will share in the cost,” said Beth Bosch, a commission spokeswoman.
“When it’s done, our examiner will write a recommendation to our board and then it will be voted on,” Bosch said. “We realize there is a great deal of concern because Harvard is in McHenry County,” and along the same train route where seven students were killed in Fox River Grove when their school bus was hit by a train, she said.
Bosch described the entire hearing process as routine and likely to gain the board’s approval. But that might not happen for at least four to six weeks, commerce commission officials said.
Once the improvements are approved, the agency would then pick up the tab for 80 percent of the costs, estimated to be about $158,000. Harvard and the railroad would share the remainder of the costs.
The higher train speeds in Harvard went into effect in October and affect a 24-mile stretch of track. On average, 10 freight trains go through the city each weekday on the way to Janesville, Wis., and on the weekend the number of trains falls to six.
Recognizing a possible hazard at the crossing because of the nearby buildings, the railroad suggested the city close the Diggins Street crossing in exchange for a cash payment of $20,000. That proposal was quickly rejected because closing the crossing would increase the response time of the Police and Fire Departments into areas on the other side of the crossing.
Harvard isn’t the only community in recent months to raise concerns about train speeds and crossing safety. In Fox River Grove, officials have sought to have the speeds of commuter express trains reduced to 50 m.p.h. from 70 m.p.h.
Those who want to slow down trains in Fox River Grove were dealt a setback last week when the commerce commission released the results of its study on train speeds and crashes. The agency said they found no measurable differences in safety resulted when a train’s speed went up from 50 m.p.h. to 70 m.p.h.
Train speed was not a factor in the Fox River Grove crash, the report found.
But perhaps the most ardent proponents of improving the Diggins Street crossing are coming from Harvard Unit School District 50. Officials said they fear a school bus-train collision could happen in Harvard if the Diggins Street crossing continues to be ignored.
Last week, the school district adopted a resolution in support of the city’s desire for new gates and flashing lights at the crossing.
“This all seems pretty clear to us,” said Mike Shields, a District 50 school board member. “The gates are needed because you can’t tell if there’s a train coming until almost the last minute, and that’s dangerous.”
