CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — The town of Castle Rock has tried for years to route traffic away from the railroad tracks where a high school cheerleader was injured Tuesday, the Rocky Mountain News reported.
Maureen Martin, 16, who remained in critical condition Wednesday, was driving east on Fifth Street, trying to cross the Union Pacific railroad tracks, when her car was hit by a northbound train.
Fifth is a major artery for east-west traffic in the growing town.A $6 million overpass, that would connect Front Street to Perry Street and bypass the rail crossing, was proposed four years ago, to relieve traffic congestion along Fifth Street.
“We have been looking for some time to mitigate traffic and congestion (in that area),” said Jay Beeton, communications manager for the city.
The town council will go at it again Monday, beginning with an update from staff on traffic conditions in that area, as well as looking at the overpass and other options to address the problem, in light of the accident.
Beeton recounted two other accidents at the crossing.
A man was injured in 1995 when he pulled up on the tracks, saw a train coming, and tried to back up but failed. In 1983, a pedestrian was killed while crossing the tracks.
Union Pacific officials said Wednesday that there had been no accidents within the past five years at the crossing involving their trains. Union Pacific shares the tracks with Burlington North Santa Fe Railroad.
Judy Ludwig, owner of the Cozy Cupboard, which is on the corner of Perry and Fifth streets, said traffic has been a problem for years.
“This is one of the fastest corners in Castle Rock,” she said. “They come down Fifth Street, flying down the hill. They don’t know if anyone is backing up. I’ve had customers come close to getting hit.”
She said the speed limit in the area is 25 mph, but no one seems to observe it.
Many drivers also seem to ignore or are confused by the line on the west side of the tracks that indicates where traffic is supposed to stop for a red light at Front and Fifth Streets, leaving cars straddling the tracks at times.
“When the traffic light on Front Street changes, half of the people who come up the street do not stop where they’re supposed to,” she said.
“They would cross over that track and then stop. If there is more than one car, part of the back of a car would be over the tracks.”
The traffic lights on Perry and Front streets are timed with the railroad crossing signal, so that traffic is cleared from the intersections.
“We have a pretty synchronized system, which is set off electronically,” Beeton said. “It basically stops the car from entering, and clears cars from the intersection.”
Public works director Bob Watts wrote in a memo Tuesday that the traffic lights were working properly at the time of the accident.
Union Pacific Railroad officials said the railroad crossing equipment at the intersection was installed in 1999, at the request of the city, to synchronize the railroad crossing with the traffic lights.
The crossing signals work like this, according to Mike Furtney, spokesman for Union Pacific. At 4,600 feet out from the crossing, or about 40 seconds out, the train activates the traffic signals, which turn green, allowing traffic to clear the tracks.
Ten seconds later, the crossing gate starts coming down, with bells ringing and lights flashing. The gate takes 5 seconds to come down, and it’s 25 seconds before the train gets to the intersection.
“It’s a constant control device,” Furtney said. “It operates at that period of time, no matter what speed the train is coming at.” Furtney said the railroad crossing was working properly at the time of the accident. Trains also will start blowing their whistles or horns about a quarter-mile from a crossing with a highway.
“It (the horn) was being blown up to the point of impact,” Furtney said.
But he noted that for a train that size, 6,891 feet, six locomotives (four in front, two in back) — and 119 empty coal cars — it would take a mile to a mile and half to stop.
The train was going just under the 40 mph permitted speed, Furtney said.