[RP TownTalk] RR crossing safety improvements

[Dwight Holmes]

It would be educational and entertaining to put up cameras to capture
timelapse pictures of MARC passengers and other pedestrians
negotiating the crossing of Queensbury Rd. My observation is that we
each have our individual strategy ;-)

Yes, Rob, and someone near and dear to me hurt herself on the sidewalk
on Lafayette between Queensbury and Riverdale, when the bricks were
coming loose and the pavement was buckling -- and there is no light to
speak of there.  Thanks to the powers-that-be that responded and got
the sidewalk fixed.  Getting the additional streetlights put in would
be a real plus.

While we're on the subject, the lights at the train station itself are
very dim.  Gives it kind of a nice 1880s ambience at night, but it's
not all that functional. Not sure if that falls in the town's or CSX's
purview.

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 10:43 PM, Robert Oppenheim
<Rob.Oppenheim at comcast.net> wrote:
> One problem with the RR crossing is poor lighting. There are
> no street lamps on the corner of Lafayette and Queensbury
> and much of the RR crossing is dark too. This is very dangerous
> to pedestrians and confusing to drivers.
>
> Just last December (2008), an early morning female jogger was
> hit by a car at this corner. Her ankle was broken in several
> places and her convalescence has been slow and painful.
>
> Two years ago the council approved adding two street lights to
> the S.W. corner of Lafayette and Queensbury. One lamp was to
> shine onto the Queensbury/RR crossing area - the other was to
> shine onto Lafayette. These lamps have not been installed.
> I don’t know why.
>
> Perhaps these street lamps would have enabled the driver to see
> the early morning jogger and prevented that accident.
>
> Also, there is no crosswalk painted there. In fact, there are
> no crosswalks anywhere that can get a pedestrian from the RR
> crossing to say, the bus stop in front of the old Credit Union
> or to Dumm’s Corner. This should be corrected immediately –
> and the lamps should be installed too.
>
> Poor visibility makes it easier for drivers to mistakenly turn
> onto the tracks. They think they are turning onto Lafayette, but
> they turn onto the tracks instead, get stuck, and get hit by a train.
> The police dept tells me this happens a lot. (Bruce has a great story
> about such an accident).
>
> Do we have the foresight to act now to improve our RR crossing
> safety? Can we be prodded into action by these recent non-lethal
> accidents or do we have to wait until something really horrible
> happens?
>
>
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