Lives can be saved by a comprehensive
approach to safety at rail crossings in Illinois, but it will take money and
tenacity, experts advised during a conference Thursday in Oak Brook.
Participants at the DuPage Railroad Safety
Council's "Prevent Tragedy on the Tracks" event, including state and
federal officials plus railroad industry representatives, focused on
"sealed" railroad corridors.
The concept involves measures such as
multiple gates, at-grade crossing closures, enforcement by police and security
cameras, raised medians and grade separations that effectively seal off
railroads from the public.
While the day involved a lot of statistics
and technical discussions, Union Pacific Railroad engineer Ford Dotson
underlined the necessity for improvements in an emotional address.
Dotson was the engineer of the Metra train
that hit a school bus carrying high school students on the railroad tracks at
Fox River Grove in October 1995. Seven teenagers died in the accident.
"It was the worst day of my
life," Dotson, describing how fear gripped him as he observed the school
bus in the distance.
"I automatically put the brake
down," he recounted. "I had no idea what the bus was going to do at
this time. I also started the whistle warning signal.
"I was trying to get the bus driver's
attention to say, 'I'm here and I can't stop.'"
After the horrific impact, the train
halted, one-quarter mile past the crossing. Dotson wanted to rush out and help,
he recalled, but his bosses told him he needed to remain with the train. He spent
the next few days answering questions and testifying before authorities.
During that time, Dotson felt like "I
didn't have no soul. It left my body," he said.
According to the Federal Railway
Administration, there were 152 highway-rail grade crossing collisions in
Illinois in 2007 with 28 fatalities.
Experts testified that in many cases, the
cause of accidents is drivers ignoring warning signals and driving around
gates.
Sealed corridor systems in North Carolina,
California and one in Illinois south of Joliet to Springfield have reduced
accidents and fatalities but are expensive and need community cooperation,
officials said.
For example, in North Carolina, state
department of transportation officials closed numerous at-grade crossings on
nonarterial roads, which proved to be controversial.
"We tried to close as many as we
could and I have a lot of scars and blood lost to show it," North Carolina
Department of Transportation engineering and safety director Paul Worley said.
Four-quadrant gates, or gates on all four
legs of at-grade crossings, are effective in stopping driver circumventions but
expensive, explained Illinois Commerce Commission senior rail safety specialist
Brian Vercruysse. He cited costs of $263,000 and $280,000 for the safeguards.
Grade separations are among the most
exorbitant of railway safety measures. State Rep. Patti Bellock, a Hinsdale
Republican, told the audience that an underpass planned for some years in
Downers Grove was now expected to cost more than $50 million.
Safety advocates at the conference said it
was important for the region to take a holistic approach and one that's
preventive not just reacting to tragedies.
"We don't want to get to crisis intervention," said Lanny Wilson, a physician and DRSC chairman. His daughter, Lauren, was killed at a railroad crossing in 1994.