Like a giant iron cradle, the antiquated railroad car gently sways to the click-clack and steam whistle of the lumbering train. Outside, clanging bells and flashing red lights announce the train’s arrival at every crossing. It is there, at the railroad crossing, that danger lurks for the inattentive and the foolhardy – those who try to beat the train or simply don’t notice it barreling down on them.

In Sangamon County, the 16 documented car-train collisions between 2005 and 2009 have injured 14 people and killed three. Statewide, 768 collisions in the same period claimed 129 lives and caused 340 injuries. There are 24 at-grade crossings on Springfield’s 10th Street rail corridor, 24 on the 19th Street corridor and 25 on the Third Street corridor, raising both safety and traffic concerns every day.

“The only safe way to solve crossing safety problems is to build grade separations,” says James Moll, project manager with Hanson Professional Services in Springfield. Grade separations are railroad crossings that allow automobile and pedestrian traffic to travel above or below trains. Moll, who heads the ongoing rail expansion study in Springfield, was one of about 80 researchers, emergency responders and government officials aboard a special Operation Lifesaver train last week that stressed rail safety. For Springfield, it’s a weighty topic that will affect the city’s future.

The rail study is evaluating how the city’s rail corridors can accommodate a projected doubling of train traffic by 2020. Considering the 73 railroad crossings in Springfield, the question becomes how to do it safely, without paralyzing the city.

Grade separations can eliminate concerns like pedestrian safety, traffic flow and emergency vehicle access, but each crossing costs between $5 million and $15 million to construct, Moll says. Even more daunting than the cost are the 800-foot ramps on either side required to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Houses and businesses along each rail corridor could lose road access or be partly blocked in by the ramps, meaning Springfield must find balance in the tug-ofwar between cost, safety and convenience.

Moll says minimizing grade crossings is an important part of the rail study, but doing so “definitely will impact the price.”

Sangamon County board member Linda Douglas-Williams, who lives near the 19th Street rail corridor, rode the Operation Lifesaver train last week as well. Waiting for trains to pass crossings near her home is “a real treat,” she says wryly, and moving rail traffic off that corridor would be highly desirable.

“It’s an issue for a lot of people,” she says.

“A lot of times, you sit there and you sit there. … I don’t think anyone would miss (the 19th Street rail) if it weren’t there.”

Douglas-Williams says safety on the tracks has long been a concern in her neighborhood.

“It’s just like with every track, you’re going to have people thinking, ‘Oh man, I can beat the train,’ ” she says. “There’s always safety concerns. I don’t care how safe you are.”

Moll says grade separations can improve development, as long as they don’t block businesses.

“Any time you make it easier for people to get around, it becomes a more attractive area,” Moll says, noting projects like the East Stanford Avenue overpass that bridges several railroad tracks to connect Fourth, Fifth and Sixth streets in southern Springfield with Wabash Avenue.

“If you’re a business, and every time someone wants to get to your business, they know they’re going to have to wait behind a train for five minutes, they start to think of other places to go,” he says. “Anything we can do to improve access is going to help businesses in our community.”

For more information on the rail study, visit www.springfieldrailroad.com.

Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].