Elmira crossing upgrade sought

SANDPOINT — Idaho Transportation Department officials in the Panhandle and Boise are slated to huddle today to identify federal funding to improve safety at the Elmira Road railroad crossing, the site of a fatal collision last fall.

If obtained, the funding would be used to install a four-quadrant crossing arm system to guard the at-grade railway crossing, according to Bill Roberson of ITD’s District 1 traffic design section in Coeur d’Alene.

“It’s a priority,” Roberson said of the upgrade.

The quad-gate system has an estimated cost of approximately $500,000. State transportation officials hope to pull the money together by re-balancing funds the state has already received from the Federal Highway Administration and presenting a recommendation to the Idaho Transportation Board.

“This one is kind of high-order on us right now. We’re trying to get it so it can get it constructed this season,” said Roberson.

Kayle Porter, 19, was killed at the double-tracked BNSF Railway crossing on Nov. 27, 2013.

Idaho State Police said Porter was northbound on U.S. Highway 95, turned east onto Elmira Road and into the path of a northbound BNSF Railway freight train.

A vehicle collision report obtained under Idaho’s public records law indicates that Porter failed to heed a stop sign posted at the crossing, which does not any crossing arms.

Quad-gate systems are regarded as safer than traditional two-quadrant gates because they thwart motorists from illegally driving around the boom barriers in an attempt to beat an oncoming train.

Improving safety at the Elmira crossing was the unanimous consensus following a Jan. 23 diagnostic team meeting of officials from BNSF, ITD, state police, Bonner County Road & Bridge and the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

The Elmira Road crossing is problematic because of its close proximity to U.S. 95 and its limited storage capacity for traffic pulling onto the highway.

“The double track and parked trains add to the safety concerns,” said Gordon Bates, director of Road & Bridge.

There was discussion of shifting the crossing to the north, but Bates said that could cost upward of a $1 million. The grade to the north is also too steep for trucks, according to Roberson.

Also problematic is the Heath Lake Road railroad crossing in Sagle, the site of another deadly collision on Dec. 31, 2013.

State police said Kaitlin Marie Brosh, 25, was driving eastbound on Heath Lake Road and failed to yield to a northbound freight train.

The crossing lacks boom barriers and presents geometric challenges because it is sandwiched into a confined area separating U.S. 95 and the tracks. The eastbound approach to the crossing is also uphill.

“No decisions were made on how to address these issues,” Bates said.