Members of a CSX Railroad work crew were placing some finishing touches Monday on safety improvements at a rail crossing along Griffin Street in Danville. The two sets of tracks there were only protected by cross arms and lights – no gates – when a 13-year-old Danville boy was struck and killed by a train there while riding his bicycle in July of 2017.
It took nearly three years to get the safety measures completed where the tragedy occurred, but now there are not only new crossing arms for the roadway but ones for pedestrians and bicyclists, too.
Former Danville Mayor Scott Eisenhauer called for a rail corridor study to be done shortly after the tragedy to see whether steps could be taken to improve safety there. Eisenhauer noted at the time that, unfortunately it would be a long process before any final determination would be made on what could be done.
The project added dedicated pedestrian crossings and approaches along both sides of Griffin Street to separate pedestrian traffic from vehicular traffic.
(Newly improved Griffin Street crossing includes gates for both motorists and pedestrians.)
The work on the crossing is complete but a CSX crew remained there today cutting down weeds and making other improvements near the crossing.
(Note the small gates along sidewalk that will come down when trains approach to protect pedestrians and bicyclists.)
