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Heath Lake railroad crossing gets hearing

KEITH KINNAIRD/Hagadone News Network | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 9 years, 11 months AGO
by KEITH KINNAIRD/Hagadone News Network
| August 8, 2015 9:00 PM

SAGLE - Bonner County commissioners plan to hold a public hearing as plans progress to close the at-grade railroad crossing on Heath Lake Road.

The date of the crossing closure or the hearing have not been set yet.

Motorists would have to rely on at-grade crossings on Algoma Spur and East Dufort roads if the Heath Lake crossing is closed.

"It has to be coordinated with the Idaho department of transportation and Burlington Northern," Commissioner Glen Bailey said of the closure.

BNSF Railway recommended closure of the crossing during a January 2014 railroad crossing evaluation. The diagnostics team included officials from Bonner County, the Idaho Transportation Department, BNSF, Idaho State Police, Montana Rail Link and the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

The crossing evaluations followed two fatal collisions between motorists and trains in late 2013. One fatality occurred at Elmira Road and the other occurred at Heath Lake Road.

The double-tracked crossing on Heath Lake Road saw an estimated 55 trains per day passing through in 2015, which are split nearly evenly among daylight and nighttime hours, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation records.

The crossing has crossbuck and stop signs, but lacks lights or crossing arms.

A collision at the crossing in 1976 injured three people when an 84-car train struck truck that became stuck or stalled. The train was traveling an estimated 50 mph, according to U.S. DOT incident report released by ITD.

Another collision occurred in 2000, when a van failed to yield and was struck by a one-car train that was traveling an estimated 5 mph. There were no injuries, an incident report said.

A Bonner County woman was killed in 2013 when she failed to yield to a 28-car train. A family member has publicly stated that she believes the woman intentionally drove into the train in an act of suicide.

There have also been five crashes in the last five years from motorists attempting to access U.S. Highway 95 via Heath Lake Road, according to a report generated by ITD.

"In 2014, we've seen a few more crashes that happened at that intersection," said Bill Roberson of ITD's District 1 Traffic Design Section.

Roberson added that sheriff's officials and state police have advised that there have also been a number of near-miss collisions on the highway at that intersection.

The county commissioner's office reports receiving several inquiries about the closure. Bailey said he's yet to receive any feedback from residents who rely on the Heath Lake Road crossing, including acquaintances of his.

"It could be that the word hasn't gone out to them," said Bailey.

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