City of Marshfield Will Close Maple Avenue Railroad Crossing
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014 -- 10:03 AM
(Marshfield News Herald) -The Marshfield Board of Public Works voted Monday night to approve a three-week closing of the Maple Avenue railroad crossing.The time frame for the closing will need to be arranged so that there are no street or railroad crossing repairs scheduled in the vicinity, said Dan Knoeck, director of the city?s Public Works Department.
Knoeck recommended to the board that the intersection be closed for three weeks rather than the two-month proposed closure. Before the closure is implemented, the department will complete two weeks of counting at 12 to 15 locations to determine current traffic patterns.
Three train and vehicle crashes occurred at the crossing between December and February. Marshfield police determined all the crashes were the result of driver error.
State and federal government officials and Canadian National Railway representatives strongly recommended temporarily closing the crossing during a March 19 meeting with city officials, but the Board of Public Works decided to keep the crossing open.
The Marshfield City Council voted at its April 22 meeting to send the board?s decision back for reconsideration after a representative from the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Railroads spoke at the meeting and Mayor Chris Meyer and council members voiced their opinions.
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