Small Town News

Safety improvements progress at A-21 railroad crossing

---

The Lassen County Department of Public Works will proceed with safety improvements to the railroad crossing on Mooney Road, County Road A-21 north of Westwood in conjunction with Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad.

The Federal Section 130 Program has committed $820,322 to the project that includes work by both the county and the railroad.

BNSF will install direct power at the crossing; install a flashing light signal assembly with automatic gate at the northeast quadrant and southwest quadrant; and retrofit the mast mounted lights to 12-inch LED assemblies with 24-inch hoods. Lassen County will install a pair of yellow flashing beacons on the east and west approaches on a cantilevered pole over the roadway.

Caltrans Division of Rail acts as the funding administrator and executes a contract agreement with the county and BNSF to reimburse for the work done under the Section 130 Program.

Before actual work begins the county and BNSF submit a General Order 88-B request to the California Public Utility Commission Rail Crossing Engineering Section for authorization to make modifications at the crossing, according to Ter-rie Prosper, director of the News and Public Information Office at the CPUC. The request for modifications is processed within 45 days.

Prosper said, "It is our understanding once Caltrans executes the contracts with the county and BNSF the contracts provide two years for the work to be completed."

In a letter to the Lassen County Board of Supervisors dated Sept. 22, Larry Millar, director of the Department of Public Works, said he anticipated construction to begin next summer.

The board of supervisors approved the service contract with Caltrans Division of Rail in September. The county's portion of funding for the project is $106,632.

Lassen County District 1 Supervisor Bob Pyle initiated efforts to improve the safety of the train track intersection on A-21 the summer of 2004. Several of Pyle's constituents approached him following an accident at the crossing Wednesday, May 26, 2004 that took the lives of West-wood teens Daniel Lawrence and Ashley Flores.

At a meeting of the board of supervisors in June 2004, Pyle asked for the support of his colleagues in his efforts to improve safety.

He read from a letter he wrote to Bree Arnett, an engineer with the CPUC, in which he identified measures that would make the crossing safer. These included additional flashing lights to alert motorists of an approaching train, the installation of safety barriers and the removal of trees along the roadway that block a driver's vision.

In August 2004, Millar met with two representatives from BSNF to discuss safety measures.

Recommendations by a diagnostic team from the California Public Utilities Commission Rail Crossing Section completed in fall 2008 set a plan in place.

In a letter dated Oct. 1, 2008 Arnett said, "The diagnostic team analyzed the existing situation with respect to vehicular travel, bicycle travel, pedestrian pathways and rail traffic and determined the identified improvements will improve safety and that these improvements are 100 percent fundable by the Section 130 Program after the issuance of the contract."

In a telephone interview Pyle said, "I am happy the plan is coming together."

He added he had made up his mind to pursue safety improvements at the crossing no matter how long the process took, and with so many agencies involved it took a while. Pyle said when he saw the approval for the execution of the service contract with Caltrans Division of Rail on the meeting agenda he was surprised but quite pleased the project was finally coming together.



Copyright 2009 The Chester Progressive, Chester, California. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Chester Progressive Chester, California. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

More from The Chester Progressive