OVERPASS PROPOSED AT RAIL CROSSING PALMDALE SITE RATED HIGH FOR FUNDING.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A proposed Sierra Highway overpass for a railroad crossing where trains have killed two motorists in the last 10 years is in line for as much as $5 million under a state safety program.

Estimated at $9.2 million, the proposal has been given the second highest priority by the state's Public Utilities Commission in its railroad crossing safety program.

``It was a project we thought would score well, given the amount of traffic,'' said Bill Winter, a civil engineer for Los Angeles County Public Works Department. The crossing lies just outside Palmdale city limits.

Both Union Pacific and Metrolink rail tracks cross Sierra Highway just south of Avenue P-8. An average of 20 trains a day travel that stretch of rail, which is crossed by only one overpass, at Avenue L in Lancaster.

A 79-year-old man was killed by a Metrolink train in May 1996 at the Sierra Highway crossing, and a 67-year-old woman was killed there by a freight train in July 1991.

Winter believes planning can be completed in time for the project to start next spring and qualify for up to $5 million on the current priority list.

The priority list was determined by a number of safety factors, said Vahak Petrossian, supervisor of the PUC's rail crossing program.

``The formula is basically a safety formula,'' Petrossian said. ``It considers the number of vehicles per day, the number of trains per day, the number of accidents, and the length of delays. The longer the delays, the greater the chance of someone trying to go around (the crossing guards).''

Other factors include the amount of traffic from sheriff's and fire vehicles and school buses, Petrossian said.

Two other Palmdale rail crossings were on the priority list, but are unlikely to get funded because of lower priority. A proposed $15 million railroad underpass beneath Palmdale Boulevard was ranked 12th and a $28.2 million overpass at Avenue S, 44th.

The PUC rail safety program is funded with $15 million every two years. The PUC will grant up to $5 million for a project if at least 10 percent of its costs are paid by users of the train tracks.

To get the overpass built, county officials will need to come up with a plan for rerouting traffic during construction and will need to reach an agreement with Union Pacific and Metrolink for their shares of the funding.

If the county receives the PUC funding, construction would have to begin within a year. Construction of overpasses generally takes about 18 months.

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Map: Proposed railroad overpass