THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 6, 1996 TAG: 9607060344
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 117 lines
Accidents happen.
No transportation system is entirely safe, and light rail lines, like the one proposed for Norfolk and Virginia Beach, are no exception.
The 18-mile light-rail system in Sacramento, Calif., averages about one accident every three weeks. The 15-mile line in Portland, Ore., averages nearly two a month.
Most accidents involve autos crossing the tracks, and most are minor, say officials with light-rail systems across the nation.
``Fortunately there have not been many cases of extensive injuries and deaths,'' said Terry Dolan, assistant manager of rail transportation for Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, which operates the line through Portland. ``Mostly people walk away.''
The issue of light-rail safety has surfaced during debate on the proposed 18-mile line between Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Executives at Norfolk Southern Corp. have questioned whether the planned route would be safe because of the number of roads it would cross at grade. It would travel mostly along Norfolk Southern's existing freight line, crossing about 50 streets and drives and passing through several residential neighborhoods.
The Tidewater Transportation District Commission is waiting for the Virginia Beach City Council to endorse the project before proceeding with further studies. The council, which has delayed action on light rail once, is scheduled to address the issue Tuesday but may delay it again because of an ongoing dispute with Norfolk over water.
Norfolk's City Council has already given its endorsement.
Safety will be addressed in the next round of planning, said Jayne Whitney, program management director for Tidewater Regional Transit, which would operate the line. ``We know that's an issue,'' she said.
The Norfolk-Virginia Beach line would intersect some of the area's busiest roads, including Brambleton Avenue, Princess Anne Road, Witchduck Road, Newtown Road, Rosemont Road, Lynnhaven Parkway and Birdneck Road.
The light rail would be elevated at Independence Boulevard, but it would cross other major roads at grade.
``We're going to improve the conditions at each of those crossings,'' Whitney said. TRT would install crossing gates at most of them, if they don't already have them, she said.
And based on traffic studies, TRT may choose to elevate the line at other crossings, though that would add to the system's projected $376 million cost, Whitney said.
Norfolk Southern officials expressed concern about dramatically increasing the frequency and the speed at which light-rail cars will cross roads along the line. Grade crossings are inherently dangerous, they said.
Most collisions involving vehicles and light-rail trains are caused by drivers running red lights, driving around crossing gates or making illegal turns, light-rail officials say. Occasionally a pedestrian is killed crossing the tracks on foot. Suicides also occur.
``It's difficult to design a system that does away with the human factor,'' said Judi McNeal, spokeswoman for the Port Authority of Allegheny County, which runs Pittsburgh's 25-mile system.
The trains themselves are safe. Derailments are unheard of and light-rail cars are solid.
``For the people that are on that car it's one of the safest envelopes you could possibly be traveling in,'' said Paul Lennon, executive director of security, safety and audit for the American Public Transit Association.
But most light-rail officials concede their systems could be made safer, particularly where the track crosses a road or even runs on a street.
``We've had too many accidents, and that's the exact reason,'' said Portland's Dolan.
The Portland light-rail system, which will be 10 years old in September, has 56 grade crossings in its 15 miles. There are 20 to 22 accidents a year, but few fatalities, Dolan said.
Most of the crossings are protected by a computerized system that uses traffic signals to warn drivers against crossing the rail grade when a train is coming. But that isn't enough to prevent accidents.
``Our feeling is that the number of signs and signals is not having the intended effect,'' Dolan said.
Portland is building an 18-mile extension, and 90 percent of the grade crossings on that new line will have crossing gates to block traffic when a train is approaching, he said.
There's never been an accident at a gated intersection along Portland's line, Dolan said.
``Gates are a definite deterrent,'' Lennon said. ``It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.''
In Sacramento, Calif., accidents occur much more often at unprotected crossings than at gated crossings, said Mike Wiley, assistant to the general manager of the Sacramento Regional Transit District.
The city's light-rail line crosses nearly 90 streets along its 18 miles, and only about 20 have crossing gates.
``We have very, very few accidents at gated crossings,'' Wiley said.
But gates are also expensive to install and maintain, Lennon said.
There are about 100 crossings at the street grade on the 52-mile light rail system run by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board. All of them are protected by crossing gates and flashing lights that are activated as a train approaches.
Most accidents on San Diego's line happen downtown, where the trains run on the streets next to vehicle traffic, said Andy Goddard, systems safety administrator for the San Diego line.
Traffic on cross streets downtown is stopped by red lights to allow the train to pass, but sometimes people, particularly tourists, will run the red lights, he said.
``Most of the accidents are due to deliberate acts or negligent acts by motorists trying to beat the system and ignoring the signals,'' Lennon said.
Still, in the San Diego line's 15-year history, only two accidents with a motor vehicle have been fatal, Goddard said.
Nevertheless, Goddard thinks the best safety solution is to completely separate the rail line from the street grade.
``I would love to see the entire system like that eventually,'' he said, ``but with today's absence of state and federal funding for mass transit that's not likely.'' MEMO: COMING SUNDAY: A look at the neighborhoods through which the
proposed light rail line would pass. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
KEYWORDS: TIDEWATER REGIONAL TRANIST LIGHT RAIL by CNB