CITY ASKS EXPERTS TO CHECK SAFETY AT RAILROAD CROSSINGS.Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The city has initiated a traffic safety study at nine local railroad grade crossings as part of an ongoing effort to time signals and ease traffic flow, officials said Thursday. Santa Clarita city officials last month granted the $10,000 contract for Benbrook, Texas-based consultant Railroad Controls Limited to study these intersections along Soledad Canyon Soledad Canyon is a long narrow canyon / valley located in Los Angeles County, California between the cities of Palmdale and Santa Clarita. Soledad Canyon contains the localities of Vincent, Acton, Ravenna, and Agua Dulce. and San Fernando roads. The two major roadways run parallel to tracks used by Metrolink and freight trains. The study is slated to be completed in June, city Traffic Engineer Andrew Yi said. ``It's very important to ensure safety of railroad crossings,'' he said. ``It's something that we in the traffic division want to look at comprehensively, to make sure railroad crossings are safe. Whenever collisions occur at railroad crossings, they are severe.'' The nine crossings under review are: Soledad Canyon Road and Rainbow Glen Drive; Soledad Canyon and Ruether Avenue; Golden Triangle Golden Triangle can refer to:
San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. and Oak Ridge Oak Ridge, city (1990 pop. 27,310), Anderson and Roane counties, E Tenn., on Black Oak Ridge and the Clinch River; founded by the U.S. government 1942, inc. as an independent city 1959. Drive; San Fernando and 13th Street; Railroad Avenue and San Fernando; and Railroad and Market Street. ``I'm pretty sure all our crossings - they're timed properly,'' Yi said. ``I just want these experts to come and give us an opinion.'' Plans for the study have been under way since last year, Yi said, well before safety at leveled crossings came under increased scrutiny after a Metrolink crash in Glendale in January killed 11 and injured nearly 200 passengers. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. A member of the Democratic Party, Boxer was first elected to the U.S. , D-Calif., is pushing a provision in a federal transportation safety bill mandating a study of railroad grade crossings nationwide. The amendment in the Surface Transportation Safety Improvement Act, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday, would direct the Secretary of Transportation to collaborate with state and local government to study the impact of grade crossings on accidents and emergency vehicle access. ``I have been talking about the problem of grade crossings - and the need for grade separations - for several years,'' Boxer said in a prepared statement. ``This amendment is the first step in preventing horrific railroad injuries like the one in Glendale, Calif. earlier this year.'' These same concerns also derailed a Burrtec Waste Industries' proposed recycling plant in Saugus. The Fontana-based company, which holds the city's commercial trash contract, had plans to break ground on a $35 million materials recovery facility A materials recovery facility or materials reclamation facility (MRF -- pronounced "murf") is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers. by next month on 15 acres east of San Fernando Road - the site of the former Keysor-Century plastics plant. But the state Public Utilities Commission and Metrolink, concerned about increased truck traffic at rail crossings on the property's two entrances, vetoed the location. The City Council on Tuesday extended Burrtec's deadline, allowing the company to negotiate with developer Mark Gates about moving the facility to the Needham Ranch Industrial Park, south of Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling . The council has set the groundbreaking deadline six months after the state appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. issues a ruling on litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. brought against the project by local environmental groups. Gates said a decision is expected in June. Eugene Tong, (661) 257-5253 eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) A Metrolink train unloads at the Newhall station near San Fernando Road. San Fernando Road grade crossings are among those to be undergoing safety studies. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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