NEWBERRY – There may be one less railroad crossing in Newberry as Florida Northern Rail Road looks to close the crossing at NW 2nd Avenue. At issue seems to be safety at the crossing, which does not have bells, lights and gates.
At the request of Florida Northern Rail Road, this railroad crossing at NW 2nd Avenue in Newberry is being considered for closure.
At the Newberry City Commission meeting on Sept. 24, the safety manager for the rail company, Matt Schwerin, laid out some troubling statistics. Last year, Florida was 15th in the nation for highway and rail-grade crossing collisions, and 12th in the nation for fatal collisions.
Because the trains that pass through this area move at just 10 miles per hour, the concern is that motorists overestimate the safety of the situation and race to beat the slow-moving train. And because NW 2nd is known as a “passive crossing,” where no lights, gates or bells exist and most train collisions occur around 30 miles per hour, the railroad views the NW 2nd crossing as serious threat.
From the perspective of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the main concerns are safety, the ability to use the alternate routes in a timely fashion and the impact on emergency rescue, said Janice Bordelon, rail specialist with the department. The application from the railroad company showed an average of 186 trips per day on NW 2nd Avenue. An FDOT timing study found that with the proposed closure, shifting that traffic to the NW 1st Avenue crossing still produces a suitable timeframe for motorists to cross the tracks.
FDOT officials say they are still in the information gathering process and will continue communicating with local law enforcement and city fire services to assess the impacts of the closure. Those findings are to be incorporated into a final analysis for the commission.
The FDOT will also supply pictures of other closed railroad crossings that have been improved with aesthetic landscaping, which includes trees and bushes to camouflage the industrial rail line and appropriate signage.
The road improvements projects that are taking place in Newberry influenced the proposal to close the railroad crossing in conjunction with other rail crossing improvements and a large-scale sidewalk project. Still, the proposal to close the NW 2nd Avenue railroad crossing brought confusion and concern among some Newberry commissioners.
They were specifically concerned with whether or not the emergency services were accurately informed, as well as the impact on the school buses and churchgoers who may use NW 2nd Avenue and will have to deal with the uptick in traffic at NW 1st Avenue.
The discussions about the NW 2nd Avenue crossing sparked major concern among some commissioners about habits of some motorists to go around the crossing gate on SW 15th Avenue. Although illegal, motorists apparently do so because the crossing gates at that location reportedly stay down for several minutes, even after the train passes through. Additionally, children being released from the nearby schools often go around the crossing gates, and cars follow suit, Newberry commissioners say. Rail company officials at the meeting were alarmed to hear about the practice and promised future action to curtail it.
FDOT and Florida Northern Railroad will be back in front of the commission to propose alternatives and improvements for Newberry’s railroad crossings in greater detail, said City Manager Keith Ashby.
The City will advertise about future hearings to alert residents who may wish to address the issues surrounding the proposed closure of the NW 2nd Avenue crossing.
The City expects to hear about the traffic impacts in greater detail as well as changes to church and school routes, said Lowell Garrett, city planner. Also expected is an analysis on the impact of the additional traffic on NW 1st Avenue and whether there are further improvements needed at that crossing as a result of the additional traffic that is likely.
The other crossing improvements underway may include additional safety features, but they will have no immediate cost to the City. The City may, however, be required to take on maintenance of the improvements in the future.
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cgrinstead@alachuatoday.com
At the request of Florida Northern Rail Road, this railroad crossing at NW 2nd Avenue in Newberry is being considered for closure.
At the Newberry City Commission meeting on Sept. 24, the safety manager for the rail company, Matt Schwerin, laid out some troubling statistics. Last year, Florida was 15th in the nation for highway and rail-grade crossing collisions, and 12th in the nation for fatal collisions.
Because the trains that pass through this area move at just 10 miles per hour, the concern is that motorists overestimate the safety of the situation and race to beat the slow-moving train. And because NW 2nd is known as a “passive crossing,” where no lights, gates or bells exist and most train collisions occur around 30 miles per hour, the railroad views the NW 2nd crossing as serious threat.
From the perspective of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the main concerns are safety, the ability to use the alternate routes in a timely fashion and the impact on emergency rescue, said Janice Bordelon, rail specialist with the department. The application from the railroad company showed an average of 186 trips per day on NW 2nd Avenue. An FDOT timing study found that with the proposed closure, shifting that traffic to the NW 1st Avenue crossing still produces a suitable timeframe for motorists to cross the tracks.
FDOT officials say they are still in the information gathering process and will continue communicating with local law enforcement and city fire services to assess the impacts of the closure. Those findings are to be incorporated into a final analysis for the commission.
The FDOT will also supply pictures of other closed railroad crossings that have been improved with aesthetic landscaping, which includes trees and bushes to camouflage the industrial rail line and appropriate signage.
The road improvements projects that are taking place in Newberry influenced the proposal to close the railroad crossing in conjunction with other rail crossing improvements and a large-scale sidewalk project. Still, the proposal to close the NW 2nd Avenue railroad crossing brought confusion and concern among some Newberry commissioners.
They were specifically concerned with whether or not the emergency services were accurately informed, as well as the impact on the school buses and churchgoers who may use NW 2nd Avenue and will have to deal with the uptick in traffic at NW 1st Avenue.
The discussions about the NW 2nd Avenue crossing sparked major concern among some commissioners about habits of some motorists to go around the crossing gate on SW 15th Avenue. Although illegal, motorists apparently do so because the crossing gates at that location reportedly stay down for several minutes, even after the train passes through. Additionally, children being released from the nearby schools often go around the crossing gates, and cars follow suit, Newberry commissioners say. Rail company officials at the meeting were alarmed to hear about the practice and promised future action to curtail it.
FDOT and Florida Northern Railroad will be back in front of the commission to propose alternatives and improvements for Newberry’s railroad crossings in greater detail, said City Manager Keith Ashby.
The City will advertise about future hearings to alert residents who may wish to address the issues surrounding the proposed closure of the NW 2nd Avenue crossing.
The City expects to hear about the traffic impacts in greater detail as well as changes to church and school routes, said Lowell Garrett, city planner. Also expected is an analysis on the impact of the additional traffic on NW 1st Avenue and whether there are further improvements needed at that crossing as a result of the additional traffic that is likely.
The other crossing improvements underway may include additional safety features, but they will have no immediate cost to the City. The City may, however, be required to take on maintenance of the improvements in the future.
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