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County looks at Zearing crossing

PRINCETON — The Bureau County Board is considering whether to close a railroad crossing in rural Berlin Township, in spite of objections from some members of the public.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Bureau County Highway Engineer John Gross and Transportation Committee member Rick Wilkin recommended closing down the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad crossing located on County Highway 19 about one-half mile southwest of Zearing.

The crossing is a safety and liability concern for the county, Gross said. The crossing has no guards or lights, though there are stop and railroad crossing signs prior to the crossing. Additional crossing signs can’t be painted on the road itself because the road is gravel. To put guards or lights at the crossing could cost several hundred thousand dollars, Gross said.

Visibility can be an issue at the crossing, and there is a road space concern for vehicles using County Highway 7, Gross said. Traveling north on Highway 19, drivers reach a small crest before descending to a stop sign on the south side of the tracks, where Highway 19 meets up with County Highway 7.

Gross said the BNSF, Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois Commerce Commission has offered the county $100,000 in incentive money to close the crossing.

His recommendation was not based on money, but on safety and liability issues, Gross said. The ICC initiated the conversation about closing the crossing, Gross said.

“It is my responsibility to give you my professional recommendation for what’s best for the county,” Gross said. “Nobody likes to close roads or crossings, but I don’t think we should keep a crossing open for convenience sake. We can’t make decisions based on emotions. It is my professional responsibility to take the emotion out of the decision.”

However, some board members questioned the need to close the crossing. Bob McCook said he went to the crossing site, and the visibility was not an issue to him. The crossing can easily be seen from the warning signs about 700 feet down the road.

McCook also questioned why the county, rather than the railroad, would be liable for any accident at the crossing. Also, the crossing has been there for years without numerous accidents, so why is the crossing a problem now, McCook asked.

In response, Wilkin said the crossing has been an issue for about 30 years. It’s been discussed regularly by the county board.

Board member Mike Maynard also questioned the need to close the crossing, which he described as seeming to be in the middle of nowhere. While closing the crossing may not be a big issue to some people, it’s a big issue to the man who lives at the top of the crest, Maynard said.

Addressing the county board were Malden Fire Protection District Chief Calvin Standley, Malden Grade School Board member Vernon Bejster, and Dave Herbolsheimer, the man who lives at the top of the crest.

Closing the crossing would delay emergency vehicles from getting to the Herbolsheimer house as well as other places in that section of the district, Standley said. Other crossings in the area are often blocked by stopped trains and could further delay response times.

Bejster read a letter from Malden Superintendent Deb Dalton asking the board to reconsider any plans to close the crossing. School buses use that crossing numerous times a day to pick up Malden Grade School and Princeton High School students. Closing the crossing would mean a longer bus rides for students. Also, school buses would have more difficult turning conditions if the crossing was closed, Bejster said.

“It seems to me by closing the crossing the county would be shifting safety issues from one place to another, to the school district,” Bejster said.

After hearing from Standley and Bejster, the board heard Herbolsheimer, whose family is most directly affected by the closing. He and his wife are raising their second-grade granddaughter, who goes to school in Malden, and his wife drives emergency vehicles.

The claim that the distance wouldn’t be so great to get to his house, if the crossing is closed, isn’t a valid claim, Herbolsheimer said. (The additional mileage would be about 2.25 miles.)

“If your house was on fire, would you want them to have to go three-quarters mile, then turn and go another three-quarters mile, then turn again to go another three-quarters mile, while your house is burning?”, Herbolsheimer said.

As far as the traffic safety issue, Herbolsheimer said there’s been one accident there in the 40 years he’s lived in the house.

In response, an ICC spokesperson said a 1995 school bus/crossing accident near Chicago left several children dead.That could happen in Bureau County, he said. The only safe crossing is a closed crossing, he said.

The Transportation Committee did receive a petition signed by 42 people objecting to the proposed closing of the crossing, Wilkin said.

The board took no action Tuesday on the crossing proposal. The board is expect to decide the fate of the crossing, and the public’s wishes, at its June meeting.

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