State and local officials gathered Friday a few hundred feet from November’s commuter train crash in Elmwood Park to announce improvements at the crossing and a proposed strengthening of policing at crossings throughout Illinois.
But they conceded that the most effective solution at the one-of-a-kind crossing at Grand Avenue also is the most complicated.
“The impact of this incident has caused everybody to take two steps back and make sure we’re safe,” Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Timothy Martin said at the Elmwood Park Village Hall. “With the immediate implementation of some of these options, there will be improved safety.”
In the Nov. 23 crash, a Metra commuter train traveling at 65 m.p.h. struck five or six cars on the tracks, injuring 16 people, three of them critically. Those cars rammed 11 other vehicles. Federal investigators have said motorists who ignored warning signs and stopped on the tracks were the likely cause of the wreck.
A day after the crash, Illinois Commerce Commission officials imposed a 30 m.p.h. speed limit for Metra trains passing through the crossing. The limit will remain in place indefinitely.
A flashing warning sign has been installed along Grand just east of the crossing. Other improvements to be in place in six months include additional painted pavement warnings at the crossing, signs and warning flashers and improving synchronization of Grand Avenue traffic signals east of the crossing.
The measures also include removing tall vegetation at the crossing “to clean up sight lines” for train engineers, Martin said.
In addition, two state lawmakers from the area–Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) and Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano (R-Elmwood Park)–announced they will press for a law allowing local police departments to install cameras at rail crossings to catch motorists who disobey warnings.
The most effective measure, building a structure to carry railroad tracks below or above car and truck traffic at the crossing, also will be examined in a study of the crossing set to begin in January, Martin said.
But such grade separation structures can take two decades to complete and cost $30 million to $60 million. In addition, the structures could require acquisition of part of the town’s business district.
Martin said consultants studying the crossing will hold public hearings in the summer.
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tgregory@tribune.com
