Marshfield Has Highest Number of Train Related Crashes and Deaths in All of Wisconsin
Saturday, September 20th, 2014 -- 6:49 AM
(Marshfield News Herald) -From January through June, Marshfield had the distinction of leading the state in the number of crashes and deaths related to railroad track intersections.According to the Marshfield News Herald, the information is based on the Federal Railroad Administration statistics compiled bi-annually.
While the city has had few serious crashes and deaths related to trains in the past 10 years, there are a number of possibilities to account for an increase in 2014. Foremost among the reasons is that people don?t realize the speed at which trains travel, and that it generally takes about one mile for a train to come to a complete stop.
From December 2013 through February 2014, there were three train vs. vehicle crashes at the Maple Avenue intersection, one crash in January at the Central Avenue intersection and one pedestrian death in February at the Vine Avenue intersection, where a man fell while attempting to cross the tracks.
The number of crashes brought the scrutiny of the state Office of the Commission of Railroads, which led the city to close the Maple Avenue intersection for three weeks early this summer to study the impact on traffic and the community. Residents overwhelming expressed their dissatisfaction with the closing.
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