Buses can pass over four railroad crossings without stopping

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake School District Board of Directors approved a policy Thursday for how buses in the district handle railroad crossings.

Transportation Manager John Eschenbacher said the state used to exempt buses from stopping at railroad crossings with lights or cross arms. The state changed the law to require buses to stop at all crossings, while allowing districts to approve exemptions.

Thursday night, the district approved a policy with four exempt stops. The buses were not stopping at the crossings before the new law, Eschenbacher said.

He said buses would be causing more danger by stopping at the locations, which include W. Broadway by Milwaukee Avenue, state Route 17 at Parker Horn, state Route 17 and Road M S.E. South, and the Alder Street Fill.

"(The Alder Street crossing) is more, 'Man, we don't want to back traffic up for six miles,'" Eschenbacher said.

A letter, regarding the change in state law and school district policy, was sent to the Moses Lake Police Department, Engineering Department, Washington State Patrol, the state Department of Transportation and the district's insurance carrier.

"We believe that prohibiting stopping will actually be safer for students on the bus and passengers in other vehicles," Eschenbacher states. "In 1996, the district changed from stopping at all crossings, to our current practice of not stopping at crossings with flashing lights and or crossing arms. This decision was made because of several rear-end accidents at Parker Horn and at West Broadway."

On state Route 17 and Road M S.E., people are traveling at 50 miles per hour, he said. At Parker Horn, people are merging and may not be watching the bus as it stops.

Columbia Basin Railroad indicated a maximum of three trains travel through the locations each week, and they travel at a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour, Eschenbacher said.