BLET Texas SLB Chairman Ben Wright prepares to deliver testimony in favor of Texas Senate Bill 1555.
____________________
The BLET is working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Texas to make railroad grade crossings safer following the death of a Houston high school student, Sergio Ivan Rodriguez, 15, who was struck and killed by a Union Pacific locomotive while walking to school in December.
Senate Bill 1555 would allocate $350 million for the construction of grade separation projects throughout the state to help prevent similar tragedies. A pedestrian bridge named in honor of Rodriguez would be built near his high school at the crossing where he was killed.
Ben Wright, Chairman of the BLET Texas State Legislative Board, called upon his 20+ years of experience as a locomotive engineer when he testified in favor of the bill in late March. “Passing Senate Bill 1555 could prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future,” Wright testified. “While we cannot eliminate all railroad grade crossings, Senate Bill 1555 is a critical step toward making both the general population and the railroad safer.”
Senate Bill 1555 was passed unanimously by a vote of 31-0. It’ll now move to the House for consideration.
A video of Brother Wright’s testimony is available here.
The Senate of Texas image