(The following report by Hillary Borrud appeared on the Victorville Daily Press website on May 5.)
HESPERIA, Calif. — As the Ranchero Road underpass inches toward construction, traffic on Main Street — the city’s only crossing over the BNSF railroad — often moves at a similar pace.
The situation is an inconvenience for motorists. But for first responders getting from one side of the tracks to the other can often be crucial to containing a fire or saving a life.
Crossing the tracks has always been an issue for first responders, even before the Main Street bridge was built.
Mayor Pro Tem Mike Leonard, a former firefighter, said he remembers sitting at a railroad crossing, waiting for trains to pass before continuing on a call.
City and local fire officials said the Ranchero Road underpass and another crossing that could be built north of Main Street would help cut response times, which currently average just over seven minutes.
“In Hesperia’s public safety master plan, the ideal is six minutes,” said Tracy Martinez, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Hesperia is still waiting for Caltrans to sign off on the environmental document needed for the Ranchero Road underpass to move forward, but the city hopes to break ground by the end of the year, said city spokeswoman Kim Summers.
The city is also considering crossing sites over the tracks north of Main Street. A feasibility study to determine workable routes could be included in the capital improvement program to be finalized in June.
“We could really use some additional crossings and that would improve public safety dramatically,” said Battalion Chief Sid Hultquist of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. “There have been some times when our response times were increased because a call was just on the other side of the tracks.”
Casey Dodge, a firefighter paramedic who works out of a station on the west side of the train tracks, said that his station’s coverage area stops at the BNSF line. But first responders still have to cross at Main Street when they assist another station.
“I think the city would benefit from two other crossings, one north and one south of Main Street,” he said.
Leonard said the biggest problem would be if an earthquake destroyed crossings at Bear Valley Road and Main Street.
“But right now, with just the one way through town, it really slows you down,” he said.
Building another station on the east side of the tracks would be one way to decrease response times, Leonard said.
A fourth ambulance that will soon be in service will also help, Hultquist said. The city is planning another fire station on the west side of Interstate 15, an area that is experiencing rapid growth.