UNION TOWNSHIP — Concern by a member of the traveling public started a process that’s led to a $188,400 safety upgrade at a local railroad crossing.
My mid-May 2016, the safety improvement project is scheduled to be completed at the Indiana & Ohio Railway railroad tracks on Stone Road east of Wilmington, according to a memo from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).
The memo stated the Stone Road crossing was surveyed in August 2013 “because of a constituent concern and was found to warrant the upgrade.”
The project will include the installation of flashing lights and roadway gates.
Currently, the crossing has yield signs and pavement stop stripes, but no warning lights or gates.
“It’s been one of the [local] crossings a lot of people complain about because of not being able to see,” said Clinton County Engineer Jeff Linkous.
“It’s [the crossing] at a skew, and sometimes it is hard to see,” Linkous added.
The project will be paid for with federal funds.
The annual number of train-motor vehicle crashes in Ohio has decreased, from 123 in 2001 to 76 in 2014, according to the PUCO’s website.
