JUNE 24, 2015
NEWARK, DELAWARE
A nick-of-time rescue where police pulled a man from his car
Sunday just before a train hit it, has some in the city calling for safety
improvements at the Newark railroad crossing.
"They definitely need to make it safer," said
Newark native James Berryhill, who lives less than a block from the crossing,
"but they've been saying that for years."
Rising University of Delaware sophomore Ikria Peace
suggested police monitor the crossing, "especially weekend nights when
teens are out partying."
"I could see better markings," said University of
Delaware senior Keith Saniga, who walks over the crossing in the 100 block of
W. Main St. at least twice a day. "It's definitely a confusing
intersection."
One-way West Main Street branches there, with South Main
Street, formerly Elkton Road, off to the left, while West Main (Del. 273) and
New London Road (Del. 896) split just south of the tracks with separate
rail-crossing gates and lights.
At Wonderland Records, in the V just north of the tracks
formed by the roads' split, owner Demitri Theodoropoulos said safety at the
crossing is something he has "thought long and hard about ... for many,
many years."
After seeing 13 crashes on "the problem spot"
tracks since 2003, however, Theodoropoulos, an engineer by training, says he
sees no easy solution.
"It's really well-marked," he said, and most
crashes he has seen stem from "people not paying attention."
Demetri Theodoropoulos, owner of Wonderland Records in the V
between West Main Street and New London Road, looking out Tuesday at the
railroad crossing, said he has thought about the safety issue there “for many,
many years,” but sees no simple solution. (Photo: ROBIN BROWN/THE NEWS
JOURNAL)
They have included people driving the wrong way on New
London Road and turning onto the tracks, a tractor-trailer that stopped too
close to the tracks and tried to cross after gates were lowered, confused
drivers like the one Sunday who drove onto gravel by the tracks and a van-load
of people whose driver stopped on the tracks when pulled over by city police
for a traffic violation, he said.
Perhaps the best approach to reducing crashes at the
crossing would be to gather railroad and road safety representatives, city
officials and citizens to develop possible improvements, Theodoropoulos said.
Newark does not have the money to pay for safety
improvements, which he said could include additional gating, but said he
wouldn't want to see studies take a lot of time, cost a lot of money and do
nothing.
Since 1978, the crossing next to the Deer Park Tavern, has
been the subject of nine crash reports filed with the Federal Railroad
Administration, three of them with injuries.
Newark Police Department found records of six crashes at the
crossing in the last five years alone, Lt. William Hargrove said.
During that period, federal records
list only one crash, but has variable reporting requirements, such as those
with injuries or exceeding $10,500 damage.
The last crash listed in the Federal Railroad Administration
accident/incident reporting database for the West Main Street crossing, city
police and federal records agree, was its last with injury.
A train hit a tractor-trailer there on Nov. 9, 2012,
injuring the truck's driver, both say.
Sgt. Tom Buglio and Cpl. Robert Sharpe, who were working
extra-duty jobs at The Deer Park next a railroad crossing, ran to help George
Kichline, 76, of Alpha, New Jersey, after seeing his car get stuck when he
turned onto gravel next to the tracks. (Photo: Photo submitted by Loic
Tapimene)
No one was hurt in Sunday's 11:10 p.m. crash, but the SUV
was destroyed.
Two city officers – Sgt. Tom Buglio and Cpl. Robert Sharpe –
were working extra-duty jobs at the Deer Park tavern next to the tracks and ran
to help George Kichline, 76, of Alpha, New Jersey, after seeing his car get
stuck when he turned onto gravel next to the tracks.
As they reached Kichline, warning lights began to flash and
two gates came down, police said.
Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for CSX, which owns the train
involved in Sunday's crash, said that incident "appeared to be a case of
the driver losing his way, leaving the roadway and entering the railroad
tracks."
City police say Kichline mistakenly left the roadway and
turned onto the tracks' gravel bed, where his car got stuck.
After police rescued a man just before a train hit his car
Sunday at this railroad crossing in the 100 block of W. Main St., Newark, some
in the city called for safety improvements, noting drivers unfamiliar with the
area may be confused by the road’s split with South Main Street to the left,
West Main Street (Del. 273) in the middle and New London Road (Del. 896) to the
right. (Photo: ROBIN BROWN/THE NEWS JOURNAL)
No malfunctions of the crossing's safety equipment were
reported.
The Newark Police Department's Traffic Unit on Tuesday
continued its investigation of the crash, in which no charges have been filed,
Hargrove said.
The railroad crossing safety issue also arose in April, when
a number of University of Delaware students climbed between the cars of a
stopped freight train, with several jumping when the train started to roll.
About 14 trains a day go through the West Main Street
crossing, half between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to federal statistics. The
speed limit for trains there is 50 mph.
While overall railroad safety is improving, federal
officials have seen a slight increase over recent years in grade-crossing
mishaps and trespassing fatalities – both intentional and accidental.
The famously belated and incompetent Federal Railroad Administration recently began a
national campaign to boost safety at grade crossings.
Launched late this spring, the campaign aims to involve
local enforcement agencies to "show a greater presence at grade crossings,
issue citations to drivers that violate rules of the road at crossings and
consider rapid implementation of best practices for grade crossing safety."
Newark Police Department has not been contacted for any
direct involvement in that safety campaign, Hargrove said, but "we always
enforce any violations we see near crossings, very strictly."
There are 250,711 such grade crossings across the country,
with slightly more than half used by the public, according to the railroad
administration. Of those, half have automatic-warning systems and only a third
have flashing lights and gates – like the Newark crossing.
"At this point," CSX spokesman Doolittle said,
"we don't have any plans to make changes to that crossing ... [but] we're
certainly open to talking about it."
CSX also has conducted railroad crossing safety campaigns in
Newark, he said, adding, "This is obviously a serious issue, and we
encourage everyone to exercise caution at crossings."
Last year, 239 people were killed and 763 were injured in
grade crossing incidents, according to federal officials.
Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or
rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter
@rbrowndelaware.
Source: http://www.delawareonline.com