(The following story by Richard Weizel appeared on the Connecticut Post website on August 15.)
STRATFORD, Conn. — It took four months after trains killed two men on the tracks near Seymour Street and another fatality before the state Department of Transportation decided to erect a “first-of-its-kind” security fence to prevent future tragedies.
Tuesday’s decision was issued four days after the third man was struck and killed by a Metro-North Railroad train on the same stretch of tracks abutting the residential area.
Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, following a meeting in Town Hall with local and state officials, vowed Tuesday that the 8-foot-high steel mesh fence will be erected by the end of the month.
The lieutenant governor, joined by Mayor James R. Miron, Police Chief John Buturla and officials from the state Department of Transportation, said the security fence will be installed along a half-mile of the grade-level tracks between Seymour Street and Stratford Avenue.
“The timing is unfortunate, but the DOT, town and state have been working on a solution for the past couple of months,” Fedele said after the closed-door session in Miron’s office. “It may be an unfortunate coincidence that this latest death occurred Friday night, but the various agencies have been working on this all along.
“We are very pleased to announce today that all parties have agreed a fence would be the best way to prevent and deter people from crossing the tracks,” he said.
However, both Fedele and Miron said people who attempt to cross the railroad tracks illegally must be aware they are taking a very grave risk — fence or not — and that they should show the responsibility not to try it.
James Hornak, a 49-year-old Fairfield resident, was the latest victim to be killed on the tracks. He had been staying at a nearby motel when he was hit by a Waterbury Line train that had left the Bridgeport station at 8:23 p.m. Friday.
Two neighborhood men — Thomas Alves, 51, and Tommy Hernandez, 35, both of Jackson Avenue — were killed by trains along the same stretch of tracks within a six-day period in late April.
A shrine to Hernandez that includes teddy bears, candles and New York Yankees souvenirs still stands alongside the tracks on Seymour Street. The shrine was assembled during an April vigil to bring attention to the neighborhood safety issue by friends and relatives who demanded officials act to prevent another accident.
Asked why it took officials several months to decide to erect a fence, Fedele said various factors had to be considered and that it took time to decide on the best solution. He admitted those factors include the fact that by erecting the fence the state takes on added liability. That’s because if someone is able to cut through the fence or climb over it and is injured or killed by a train, it could leave the state open to litigation by accident victims or their families. That liability could be greater than if there were no fence at all, he said.
Asked why the security fence is to be built in Stratford while no similar fencing has been installed on DOT rights-of-way abutting hundreds of miles of tracks across the state — other than near schools, parks and other crowded areas — Fedele said the “unusual circumstances of three deaths on the same area of tracks made it necessary to do something.”
While Metro-North operates the trains, the state DOT owns the tracks and 12 feet of property on both sides of the tracks.
The lieutenant governor, whose local visit had been planned before the Friday night rail fatality, said the fence would cost more than $100,000 and would be designed to prevent people from cutting through it or climbing over.
Miron, who has been calling for some kind of fence or barrier since the first two deaths in April, said he is “extremely pleased that the state and DOT have reached a conclusion I believed was necessary from the beginning.”
Miron, however, said the town has adopted a three-step approach to preventing future deaths on the tracks, which includes intensive education by local police, increased enforcement and fines issued to those crossing the tracks, and the effort to erect a fence.
“It’s a very unusual area because it’s grade level and a residential community on one side, with a commercial area on the other,” Miron said. “It appears to be a perfect short-cut for people who don’t want to walk the half-mile to go around the tracks. But as we have all unfortunately learned, it can be a deadly choice and we need to do something before it happens to a child.”
Metro-North spokesman Dan Brucker, however, said the decision by the state to erect a fence at the Stratford site is “a very rare one” that could create additional liability for the railroad, although he was waiting for an opinion by attorneys.
“People always find ways to cut through, climb over or go around the fences,” he said. “I hope this type of fence really prevents people from getting onto the tracks.”