Proposed pedestrian railroad underpass on track
Written by jrood
Planning for a proposed pedestrian railway underpass at Goshen College in Goshen, Ind., is back on after it recently hit a slowdown, local media report.
Jim Histand, vice
president for finance at the school, said the project was stalled after Norfolk
Southern told the school that if it built the underpass, it wanted the school
to close all five other crossings. He said the company’s position is that every
crossing creates some risk, but he said the college believes that if students
don’t have enough crossings, they’ll cross illegally, which is even more
dangerous.
"Our perspective is
that that may be true as it relates to vehicular crossings where a car can
easily move a few blocks either way and go to a different crossing,"
Histand said.
But Histand said the
school has received a formal letter from Norfolk-Southern agreeing to approve
the project if the school closes just one other crossing. Under that proposal,
the school would have one underpass and four other pedestrian crossings.
The train tracks run
through the middle of the entire campus, requiring students to wait for trains
to pass as they walk to their classes from the residence halls. Some, like
freshman Lavonne Shetler, see the trains as a problem.
"When you’re in a
hurry it’s kinda irritating," she says.
Others, like junior
Taylor Ten Harmseo, see it in a more positive way. "You get to miss class
for a little while," he jokes. But the college as a whole feel the trains
create a dangerous situation.
In December, a student
sustained a severe injury to his leg after he was hit by a train while lying
near the tracks south of the college. However, the accident occurred just
off-campus and on a day where no classes were scheduled.
The underpass will be
located at the crossing that is immediately east of the main entrance and
crosses right between the library and the Umble Center, he said. Histand said
he believes that is the most-used crossing on campus.
Plans for the project are
still in the design phase. Bidding for contractors to do the construction is
slated for October. The college hopes to have the underpass open by next
summer.
