Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad is urging Canadian Pacific to put crossing arms on Euphemia Line before the planting season.
The railway and municipality agreed to signalize both Fansher Road and Euphemia Line and close Bilton Line to traffic after a Newbury man was killed at the Euphemia Line crossing. Transport Canada had voiced concerns in the past about rail lines which crossed roads on an angle – similar to the three crossings in Dawn-Euphemia..
Euphemia Line was closed immediately. So was Bilton Line. Traffic was restricted on Fansher and for a time CP had to either pay for a crossing guard or reduce the speed of its trains to a crawl while crossing the roadway.
CP agreed to pay the full cost of signalizing one of the tracks and got to work on Fansher Road in December. The repairs were complete last week “I would like to sincerely thank you for facilitating the installation of warning lights at the Fansher Road rail crossing in a very timely fashion,” wrote Broad in a letter to CP.
And he urged CP officials to finish the job at Euphemia Line quickly. “Public safety in the community is and always has been a priority of the municipal council and staff. Council is respectfully requesting that the Euphemia Line crossing warning lights be scheduled for completion by April 15, 2016 to ensure the safe movement of farm equipment and local traffic across that crossing at the opening of the upcoming farming season.”
Broad says adding crossing lights at Euphemia Line will encourage people off the main roadways “improving over all safety in the municipality.”
The township has agreed to pay for half of the $350,000 cost of the Euphemia Line project.
