RR crossings to get safety upgrades

Twenty-five railroad crossings in the Houston area have been targeted by federal authorities for "active" signage - flashing lights and crossing arms - including the one where four teens died in an accident that involved a train and a stolen SUV last month. That site, where four other accidents have occurred since 1979, has only pavement markings and crossbucks. Family members of the teens who were killed vowed to go on a crusade to improve safety at railroad crossings.

Other intersections include a crossing at Almeda and Almeda-Genoa that has been the site of fifteen accidents since 1977 and one on Texas 6 in Hitchcock that has been the site of eight accidents. Four others near downtown will also be getting new flashing lights and crossing arms. These improvements are scheduled to be finished by the end of 2008. The cost of the improvements is $170,000 per crossing, and the number of crossings that get the green light depends on the federal money that is available.

Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Joe Arbona pointed out that "more than half of accidents happen at places where you have signal lights," so the new signage won't be an end to train-vehicle accidents.

Doug Moyers, the father of a girl who died in last month's crash, said that he intends to "become an expert in this, and we're going out to save some lives." As the Chron pointed out, this is no small undertaking - about half of the 1,800 railroad crossings in the Houston area have only "passive" signals, with no lights or crossing arms.