Deadly rail crossing gets safety improvements

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

Years after a young boy was killed at the level crossing along Oshawa’s Wilson Road, safety improvements have been installed to make sure the tragedy doesn’t repeat itself.

Starting at the end of March, construction crews were on the scene installing safety fences and an electronic gate to ensure that those walking along the sidewalk are well aware when trains are approaching.

The safety improvements come more than five years after the February 2012 death of 16-year-old Jacob Hicks, who was struck and killed by a CN train there. For Jacob’s mother Janice, who has been fighting for the installation of Jacob’s Gate (an electronic gate at the crossing), the news comes as a relief after years of waiting and tangled bureaucracy.

“I am very happy it has finally happened,” she says, noting that the gate will prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, especially at the dual crossing.

“I have heard from people since Jacob’s accident that as they sit in their cars at those tracks and a train has passed by, the gates sometimes start to go up and then stop and go back down as another train goes through,” she says. “As I have always wondered, if that could have been a factor in Jacob’s accident I truly believe these kinds of gates will save lives.”

It hasn’t been a smooth path to this point either. Following Jacob’s death in 2012, the City of Oshawa immediately set aside funds to the tune of $87,000 to pay for its share of the improvements. The responsibility is shared between the railway company that uses the line, the municipality and Transport Canada. However, when a city report listed other cheaper options from the electronic gates, it was uncertain as to whether the project would move ahead.

At the time, Hicks circulated petitions for the gate to be the chosen option, garnering hundred of signatures.

Now, through assistance of the federal government’s Grade Crossing Improvement Program, Transport Canada is covering 50 per cent of the final $350,000 cost with CN matching the city’s $87,500 contribution.

“Now that everything has come together with CN, Transport Canada and the City of Oshawa, the project is finally getting done, which will of course make the area safer, providing people pay attention to the safety devices that are there,” says Councillor Bob Chapman.

Looking ahead, Hicks hopes that the city will expand their perspective to the remaining level crossings in the city, which could still pose a danger to pedestrians.

“This should not be the only one of its kind,” she says. “I have heard so many stories of pedestrians being hit by trains in the last five years. In my opinion, any precautions are worth the cost.”

However, the other level crossings in the city, Bloor Street East and at Thornton Road, which are part of the same CP rail track, don’t have sidewalks, Chapman says.

“Those areas don’t have a lot of pedestrian traffic,” he says, while noting that when road improvements occur, it could be considered at that point.