With more than a third of the railway crossings in DuPage County deemed to be of “poor” quality for pedestrians, County Board members are seeking an expert opinion on which should be fixed first.
According to a county study issued last fall, 63 of the 163 railway crossings in DuPage rate “poor” for pedestrians, with 17 rated “excellent,” and the rest in between at “good,” “fair” or “failing.”
The county has jurisdiction over 16 of the crossings with municipalities in charge of the rest. Last week, the county’s Public Transit Committee approved $25,000 to hire a consultant to determine which crossings merit attention first. County officials will focus on theirs, but they hope to inspire the municipalities to do the same.
“There are a couple, three crossings we have that have deficiencies that should be corrected sooner rather than later,” said John Noel (R-Glen Ellyn), committee chairman. The problems include buckled and cracked concrete or asphalt, slippery surfaces, inadequate signage, rusty gates and flashers, and no sidewalks so pedestrians are forced to cross with traffic.
Noel pointed out that many of the crossings are in industrial areas with little foot traffic, so they are not considered a high risk.
The consultant will identify crossings that can be corrected less expensively. Such cases might include those where a patch of sidewalk could be installed over the crossing, wooden ties changed to tar so people won’t slip, or inserts in the rails altered so bicycle, stroller or wheelchair tires don’t get stuck.
The consultant also will list those crossings that would be more expensive to fix, which might involve buying rights of way or installing new railroad signals.
Work to improve the crossings could begin by fall 2005, said John Loper, the county’s principal transportation planner.
According to last year’s study, 10 pedestrians were killed at grade crossings in DuPage from 1999 to 2003.
“The fact that they are looking at engineering ways to improve the pedestrian problem is phenomenal,” said Lanny Wilson, chairman of the DuPage Railroad Safety Council.
Wilson’s teenage daughter was killed in 1994 when the vehicle in which she was riding was struck by a train in Hinsdale. Engineering improvements have cut vehicular collisions with trains in half over the last decade, Wilson said, but pedestrian fatalities are persistent.
“Many of us are realizing this pedestrian problem is even worse,” he said.
Although the safety council has largely focused on education and law enforcement to stem pedestrian tragedies, Wilson said engineering fixes are important too.
“In an ideal world, neither pedestrians nor vehicles would go across the same level as the train goes,” Wilson said.
