(The following story by Brian J. Pedersen appeared on the Arizona Daily Star website on September 11.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — Drivers on the Northwest Side got a crash course in railroad-related traffic laws Thursday morning, as the Marana Police Department teamed up with the Union Pacific Railroad to crack down on violations at a handful of train crossings.
Marana police issued 19 citations and two formal warnings during a four-hour “selective enforcement operation” — dubbed Crossing Accident Reduction Enforcement — designed to school commuters on safety near the tracks.
“This is a real education for a lot of people,” said Officer Kris Reeve, who was stationed at where the tracks cross West Ina Road just east of Interstate 10.
The majority of the citations were for vehicles that came to a stop on the train tracks while waiting for a stop light to change, said J. Cantu, public safety officer for Union Pacific’s police department.
Traffic on Ina — as well as on West Cortaro Farms Road two miles to the north — often backs up as much as a mile when any of the 40 or so trains roll through Marana on a daily basis.
In an effort to avoid those delays, many drivers will try to squeeze into the small area between the tracks and the spotlight, Marana Police Commander Joe Carrasco said.
“Everyone’s in a hurry,” Carrasco said. “They all want to get across the line as fast as possible.”
That often leads to vehicles coming to a stop within 50 feet of the tracks, which is a violation.
“A lot of people are unaware it’s a violation for stopping on the tracks,” Cantu said. “We’re trying to prevent injuries and accidents happening within the crossings.”
Getting too close to the tracks is very common, said Gilbert Altamirano, a flagging foreman for Union Pacific who spends his days monitoring trains from a pickup truck parked near the Ina crossing.
He said sometimes the traffic gets so packed in that he has to radio ahead to incoming trains to reduce speed to as low as five miles per hour in order to avoid reaching the crossing when cars are sitting on the tracks.
“We’re greedy, we want to get from point A to point B as fast as we can,” Altamirano said. “That’s the nature of people.”
Those cited Thursday were hit with tickets that, if not appealed or settled through traffic court, will cost $164, according to the fine schedule on the Town of Marana Web site.
“I think it was really successful,” Marana Lt. Dale Bradshaw said of the operation. “Once people see the media reports on this, it will certainly be an eye-opener for citizens.”
Union Pacific worked with Tucson Police on a similar operation in mid-June that resulted in about 20 citations. Both were used as warmups for a larger crackdown scheduled for Nov. 10 to 14 that will focus on train crossings in Marana, Tucson and Phoenix, Cantu said.