(The following article by Matt Baron was posted on the Chicago Tribune website on February 19.)
CHICAGO — Instead of imposing a “bone-headed federal rule” on municipalities, authorities ought to turn their attention elsewhere–toward those who try to sneak past railroad crossing gates, Elmhurst Mayor Tom Marcucci said this week.
Speaking Monday during the City Council meeting, Marcucci called for mandatory jail time and stiffer fines for those who go around a lowered gate.
Pedestrians and motorists now face a $250 fine for a first offense. For subsequent offenses, the fine jumps to $500 and includes a possible six-month license suspension for drivers. Multiplying the fine by 10 or even 50 would deter would-be scofflaws, said Marcucci.
“This is an irresponsible person in the middle of an illegal act. Anybody who goes around these gates should go to jail,” he said.
The mayor also vented his frustration at the Federal Railroad Administration, the agency that recently announced a rule that could allow trains to again blow their horns in some communities.
Unless communities take steps to install safeguards at crossings, the warning whistles would be allowed.
“This is the most bone-headed federal rule that’s ever come down the pike,” Marcucci said. The railroad agency is “like the inner sanctum of the Ming Dynasty” with “untouchable bureaucrats.”
The city has sent a written response about the proposed rule. Between lines operated by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Canadian National Railroad, the rule affects 12 crossings in Elmhurst.
Marcucci and City Manager Thomas Borchert said the railroad administration’s numerical formula to assess a crossing’s safety is flawed because it does not credit Elmhurst for upgrades it has already made, as well as a $10 million underpass the city built at one crossing.
The formula is based on factors such as the frequency of trains crossing, vehicular traffic volume, previous accidents and the types of warning devices in place.
To avoid recurring train whistles, communities like Elmhurst are faced with spending substantial amounts of money to make the upgrades.
“It’s a big unfunded mandate,” said Marcucci.
Administration officials on Monday pegged the upgrade figure at $4 million for Chicago-area communities, but local leaders called the figure a drastic underestimate.
Marcucci also was skeptical that the measures would lower the fatality rate because “many” deaths are acts of suicide and not a failing in existing safety measures. “I don’t think it’s going to save any lives,” said Marcucci.
“If the horns blowing all the time,” Borchert said, “you tend not to pay attention to it.”
There has been one railroad-crossing death in Elmhurst in the last 10 years, Marcucci said in the letter to the railroad administration.