SANTA ANA : City Plans Upgrade of Railway Crossings
As part of a plan to improve traffic safety, city engineers are examining several potentially dangerous railroad crossings that have no gates and, in some cases, poor warning equipment and limited visibility for motorists.
When the survey is completed, the report will be used to seek federal grants to improve those sites, Traffic Engineer T.C. Sutaria said.
About one dozen crossings citywide have no gates and present a potential hazard to drivers. Although there have been no recent accidents at these crossings, drivers’ complaints prompted officials to examine them, Sutaria said.
“Sometimes an approaching train is not visible. There may be a tree, a wall, a fence, and it can be difficult for a motorist to know when the train is arriving,” he said.
One of the most dangerous crossings is on Sunflower Avenue near Susan Street, where trees obscure the tracks so that trains remain hidden until they reach Sunflower, Sutaria said.
The survey will be complete within about two weeks, he said. Improvements to each crossing will cost between $100,000 and $200,000, although the federal grants could pay for about 90% of that. The city and Southern Pacific Railroad Co. would share the remaining cost.
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