(The Morning Journal posted the following story by Katie Gallagher on its website on October 13.)
LORAIN, Ohio — The death of Dr. Sami Sfeir after his car was struck in August at a railroad crossing between Oak Point Road and Beavercrest Drive has resulted in renewed calls for making ungated train crossings safer, but it also raises the question of who is responsible.
Safety devices have been upgraded at crossings throughout Ohio in the past 10 years, including 1,200 sets of lights and gates at public crossings using federal highway money, say state officials, but the state is only responsible for its 6,300 public crossings.
The state has no jurisdiction over private crossings, and the crossing where Sfeir was killed is considered a private crossing, according to Robert Marvin, director of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s transportation department.
Sfeir, 75, was crossing the tracks into the Beaver Creek North Marina on Aug. 13 when his Infiniti Q45 was struck by a Norfolk Southern train. He died three weeks later.
A crossing is considered public if the local highway authority pays for maintenance on either side of the tracks, according to Leah Dalton, chief of the rail division for PUCO.
Although Marvin suggested the railroads are responsible for safety at private crossings, rail firms disagree.
Rudy Husband, director of public relations for Norfolk Southern Corp., said crossings become private through agreements between the railroads and property owners, and after that it’s up to the property owners to set up safety devices because, theoretically, the crossings are only supposed to be used by the property owners.
He said railroad companies may seek upgrades if there are concerns about a particular private crossing, but otherwise it is the property owner’s responsibility.
Once safety devices are installed at crossings, whether public or private, the maintenance of the devices becomes the responsibility of the railroad companies, said Husband.
According to newspaper stories, 14 people were killed at the Beaver Park crossing between 1962 and 1986 — so many, it was dubbed ”Killer Crossing” — but Husband said one death since 1986 doesn’t merit saying that there is concern for safety at the crossing.
John Schaeffer, who owns the marina on the north side of the tracks, said he installed lights, flashing signs and warning signs on his property to remind drivers that they’re approaching a railroad crossing.
Since 1984, when he become the owner of the property, he said there had not been any fatalities at the crossing until Sfeir was struck.
However, Schaeffer said he isn’t aware of any precedent for a private citizen having to install regulation gates and safety signals at railroad crossings.
”What does an individual know about putting up railroad gates?” Schaeffer asked.
”If it’s a private crossing, he absolutely has responsibility,” Husband said.
According to Schaeffer, an agreement was reached between the railroad company, the city of Lorain and Schaeffer’s grandfather to install gates at the crossing years ago. The railroad and the Schaeffer family would each cover a quarter of the cost of the $33,000 for gate installation and the city would cover the rest. For some reason, the city pulled out of the agreement, and the gates were never installed, Schaeffer said.
James Reagan, deputy director for Lorain’s Department of Engineering, said there were plans to make the crossing public in 1984 after a survey was done by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The change was never carried out because of the lack of public funds, he said.
”The funding has to be there before we do that,” Reagan said.
He said it would have cost the city a lot of money to make the crossing public without public funds.
Reagan said there is still a chance that the crossing could become public and the first step would be for the property owners to make a request to make the land public. The city would then have to accept the request to dedicate the crossing for public use, he said.
He said Schaeffer, Norfolk Southern and an electric company all own property at the crossing.
City Engineer Pat McGannon said before the city accepts property certain improvements need to be made.
”It’s not a dedicated public road,” McGannon said. ”It’s like putting a driveway in at a house. It’s all under private control.”
Reagan said it would cost over $100,000 to install lights and gates, and the need for them would be determined by the PUCO.
”If the numbers aren’t there, they’re not going to fund it,” Reagan said.
He said more trains were passing over the tracks at Beaver Park when the last Ohio Department of Transportation survey was done in 1984.
Today, only two trains pass over the Beaver Park crossing each day, according to Schaeffer.
Schaeffer said he believes a solution to the problem would be for the railroad company to divert those two trains on another route. It would be more cost effective than installing gates, and it would allow the city to develop property along the lake, he said.
Schaeffer said Sfeir’s death was especially difficult because he was a friend and colleague.
”When you have that train there, there’s always that risk,” he said.
Marvin said crossbucks are the only requirement at public crossings.
He said the PUCO evaluates all the public crossings and ranks them according to the probability of accidents to decide whether further safety devices are necessary.
Marvin said depending on the list and federal money available, PUCO puts lights and gates at many crossings.
Marvin said that Ohio ranks fifth in the country in the number of public crossings.
”Anything moving by track or train in the northwest most likely comes through Ohio,” Marvin said.
So many crossings also makes Ohio one of the leaders in grade crossing crashes and fatalities in the country.
According to the PUCO web site, motor vehicle/train crashes at grade crossings have declined by 66 percent and fatalities have declined by 77 percent since 1990. Marvin emphasized that those numbers were accomplished during the same time period that had an increase in train traffic, registered vehicles and licensed drivers in the state.
There have been 51 crashes, three fatalities and 19 injuries at public crossings in the state in 2003.
In the past 10 years, PUCO has installed lights and gates at more than 1,000 grade crossings in Ohio, costing more than $100 million.
Marvin said there are test programs in other states to develop new safety devices at crossings. He said ideas include four quad gates so that drivers can’t drive around the gates, barriers that would spring up from the ground, and other alternatives for lights and gates. These haven’t been brought to Ohio yet.
According to the PUCO’s Web site, there are 137 public crossings and 57 private crossings in Lorain County — although PUCO does not keep track of all private crossings. Only four crossings in the county have cantilevered lights, 98 have mast mounted lights and 87 crossings have gates. All of those crossings are public.