MEDINA, Ohio — Most drivers don’t think about trains unless they have to cross a set of railroad tracks. And then they rely on the flashing lights and gates to warn them of an oncoming locomotive, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
But think about this: Not all railroad crossings are gated. And it takes a fatality before state officials will look at a railroad crossing and consider it a safety priority. At least that’s what Vicky and Dennis Moore claim.
The Moores are the founders of The Angels on Track Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping local governments pay for lights and gates at crossings.
On March 25, 1995, six kids in a car crept cautiously across a track on the border of Stark and Wayne counties where there were no warning devices. They weren’t drunk or speeding. But despite their caution, their car was hit by a Conrail train.
The Moores lost one son and had another injured in the accident. They sued Conrail and won. The Canal Fulton couple used the $5 million award to establish the Angels on Track Foundation, pledging to help local governments get money to make ungated railroad crossings safer.
County Commissioner Pat Geissman knows that Medina County has had more crashes at its rail crossings than any other county in the state and she is heading up a task force to tap into the foundation’s funds and improve the county’s 108 crossings. Since 1991, there have been 56 train-vehicle crashes in Medina County, two that were fatal, according to statistics from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Geissman said the state already plans to upgrade the crossings at Friendsville Road north of the county line and Columbia Road, north of U.S. 42. The South Broadway Street crossing near the Farmers Exchange in Medina also is slated to get gates and lights.
Still in its fledgling stage, the Medina County committee is working to identify all the crossings and set priorities for them in terms of safety, traffic volume and sight obstructions. County fire departments are taking pictures, committee members are tracking train speeds and bus drivers have completed surveys.
There are 791 crossings of railroad tracks by students on an average school day, according to Will Koran, superintendent of the Medina County School District. The committee also is focusing on bridge and trestle safety. Geissman said the River Styx Road trestle that crosses over an arm of the Rocky River already is on the county’s radar because of the trestle’s deteriorating conditions.
Dangerous crossings already known to the committee include Beach Road in Sharon Township; Garman Road in Westfield Township; and Lester Road in York Township by the new Buckeye School Building.
The task force meets monthly, one of the stipulations to qualify for Angels on Track funding. Other railroad safety task forces are active in Wayne, Delaware, Stark, Clark and Huron counties.