Safety Arms, Lights Added To Crossing Near Bainville
The railroad crossing project on County Road 1013 was completed with safety arms and lights last week.
“It has been a long process on a very needed project,” Roosevelt County Commissioner Gordon Oelkers said.
Three individuals have died in crashes at the crossing since August 2019.
Sidney Mayor Rick Norby is thankful for the improvements at the crossing. His brother, Rocky, was killed when an Amtrak train struck his tractor on May 29, 2020.
“I am very grateful and happy that this has been accomplished and that it will help prevent unnecessary future accidents,” Mayor Norby said. “I feel this is a legacy my brother would be proud of.”
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont, and U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., teamed up to reintroduce two bipartisan bills improving safety at rural train crossings and addressing instances of blocked highway-railroad crossings across the U.S.
“We’ve seen far too many preventable tragedies at Montana railroad crossings, and it’s clear that we’ve got to provide rural communities with the resources they need to keep folks safe,” said Tester. “These bills will provide towns across Montana with critical investments to improve public safety surrounding railways, and help ensure Congress has the necessary data to ensure our highways are safer, more efficient, and can get folks where they need to go faster.”
