Railroad crossings scheduled for improvement

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The rural Somonauk rail crossing where a Leland couple and their 9-year-old granddaughter were killed last month is one of 128 grade crossings scheduled for safety improvements this fiscal year, according to a revised five-year plan released last week by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

The crossing is on East 23rd Road on the LaSalle County side of the LaSalle-DeKalb county line. The rural crossing is presently marked with a crossbuck sign, but has no other safety devices. The new five-year plan includes $254,544 to install flashing lights and gates there. Another $330,000 is allotted to install lights and gates and reconstruct approaches to a crossing two miles west, on East 21st Road.

LaSalle County Sheriff Tom Templeton said installing lights and gates at rural crossings should help to prevent similar accidents – provided drivers don't ignore them.

"I firmly believe in gates and lights, but we also have to have the good sense to observe those safety devices," he said.

According to past five-year plans, the 23rd Road crossing was supposed to get lights and gates in fiscal year 2008. It was not on the plan for fiscal year 2009, but is back on the plan for fiscal year 2010, which began July 1.

"There are a number of different ways a project will get on the commission's radar," ICC spokesman Brian Sterling said. "Putting the funding in place is the most important part."

Sometimes crossings are slated for improvement based on staff analysis of safety issues there, Sterling said, while other crossings are brought to the agency's attention by local governments or railroads. He was not sure how the rural Somonauk crossing initially got on the list.

"The five-year plan is basically a wish list, then we try to prioritize," Sterling said. "There are many projects we are aware need to be done that don't make the list."

No DeKalb County crossings are specifically listed in the plan.

The commission was able to revise its plan through 2014 due to a funding hike of nearly 50 percent from the state Legislature, which will allow it to get dozens more projects completed, Sterling said. The initial plan released in April had a budget of about $25 million for each of the five years, he said, but the recently-approved capital plan boosted the budget to nearly $40 million per year.

Ben and Marilyn Rasmusen of Leland and their 9-year-old granddaughter, Elizabeth Rasmusen of Indiana, were killed July 13 when their car was struck by an Amtrak passenger train at the rural crossing. Two of Elizabeth's siblings were also in the car and were injured.