State, PUC, and Township Officials Meet to Address Railroad Crossing Safety in Chapman

By Kevin Rauch

CHAPMAN TOWNSHIP-Several state and railroad officials met with the Chapman Township Supervisors and their engineer on Monday as they collectively try to make sure that the three railroad crossings in Chapman Township are as safe as possible for traffic that use the sites daily, many of which are going to and from work and school on a daily basis.

Crossings include the one on Aspen Road in Farwell, Reese Road in North Bend as well as the Hyner River Road located in Hyner. All three branch off of RT 120.

Reviewing all three crossings were Chapman supervisors Linda Kelley, Charlie Rossell and Greg Werts in addition, Chapman engineer Todd Pysher, David Walker-PennDOT D2 grade crossing engineer and Mike Scheib- PUC rail safety engineer as well as Leon Jackson- Norfolk Southern.

The gathering was considered an informal field study, benefitting all involved as to not get locked into one idea until every feasible option is considered.

Despite the mundane, daily task of crossing the tracks in Chapman Township, like anywhere an accident is always a possibility. Scheib reported that typically two trains a day travel through the area at a speed of 10 MPH.

Although serious injuries occurred, a major tragedy was miraculously avoided on July 18th when a car occupied by four minors collided with a train at the crossing on Aspen Road in Farwell. The accident shook many, which sparked the commissioners requesting a review of crossings in Chapman.

  Scheib reviewed the details of that accident back in July with everyone present. With weather not being a factor on a sunny summer day as well as the distance that a driver can see in both directions at the Aspen crossing, it was considered that the inexperience of the driver likely led to the accident.

That is in no way to say that anyone involved in Monday’s review shrugged off the event, in fact, all were determined to do whatever they could to prevent another incident.

“The Chapman Township Supervisors want to make the crossings in the township as safe as possible, which led to us needing to speak to all of the officials in the capacity that we did today” said Supervisor Linda Kelley.

Chapman will now continue their discussions, first with their engineer as well as PennDOT before any decisions are made. With so many entities involved, they will have to decide on how to proceed to ensure the safest possible passage for their residents as well as anyone travelling across the railroad crossings.

Likely options could be additional signage, not just on Chapman’s property but possibly on RT 120 as well. Of the many considerations is something such as a yield bar, which is basically a white line across the road encouraging passerby to yield at that point of the street. Again, that’s just one of a myriad of possibilities.