Posted March 31, 200619 yr Fostoria overpass project begins By RUSS ZIMMER STAFF WRITER Incentives are being offered by the Ohio Department of Transportation to reduce the inconvenience to the public, Bruce Merry, ODOT District 1 construction engineer said at this morning's ground breaking ceremony for the West Tiffin Street overpass project. West Tiffin Street will not be closed until July 10, Merry said, and is tentatively scheduled to reopen Dec. 1. However, for every day the project is finished before December, Mosser Construction, the contractor, will receive money from ODOT, Merry said. He did not disclose the dollar amount. More at: http://www.reviewtimes.com/News/backissues/2006/Mar/ar_news_033006.asp#story2
March 31, 200619 yr Fostoria Overpass project begins http://www.thecourier.com/ By JIM MAURER Staff Writer FOSTORIA -- Work has begun on the first of three railroad overpasses that will be built in and around Fostoria. The projects will cost a total of nearly $14 million. Local, county and state officials gathered Thursday near the site of the first overpass -- along West Tiffin Street -- for a groundbreaking ceremony. The nearly $4.9 million project was designed by WEC Engineers of Bridgeville, Pa. More at link above:
March 31, 200619 yr Good articles, and glad to see more separations. But I've met that Nicholson guy, who can be pretty weird.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 31, 200619 yr Separating some crossings and closing others yields multiple benefits; fewer crossing accidents, higher running speeds for railroads, and eliminating the need for engineers to sound air horns for crossings, improving quality of life for nearby residents. I'm all for it.
March 31, 200619 yr Good articles, and glad to see more separations. But I've met that Nicholson guy, who can be pretty weird.... I've met him too (though he might not remember it). Though it was in a more control environment (some speaker @ OSU Geography), nothing too wild that day.
April 1, 200619 yr He is a nice guy, though. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 1, 200619 yr But seriously folks.... This grade separation program is one of the best infrastructure programs the State of Ohio has ever undertaken. And it's worth mentioning that the City of Fostoria and Mayor Davoli were very aggressive in going after the funding for these projects right from the start. They should be applauded.
April 1, 200619 yr But seriously folks.... This grade separation program is one of the best infrastructure programs the State of Ohio has ever undertaken. And it's worth mentioning that the City of Fostoria and Mayor Davoli were very aggressive in going after the funding for these projects right from the start. They should be applauded. Thank you Mr. Nicholson.
April 2, 200619 yr Fostoria isn't the only community that has gone after grade separation $$$$... it's just that they saw that significant parts of their community were cut off when trains passed through and that the frequency and length of those trains were increasing. That poses not only a congestion problem, but a public safety hazard as well (police, fire, EMS). The mayor is also trying to set the stage for creating one of the state's first "quiet zones" to reduce the noise from train horns. Other communities have actively pursued these funds: Springfield, Toledo, Willard, London and others. But few, if any, have pursued them with the vigor of Fostoria. Ultimately, all of this serves to eliminate the risk of motor vehicles and trains crossing paths: a collision the train always wins. If I'm a bit strong on the subject, it's for good reason. In my time working in news, I saw the aftermath of such collisions far too often and it was almost always deadly. When you see a mother and two of her toddlers or the entire three-man crew of a volunteer fire department rescue squad killed, or a teenager's life cut short .... one tends to get a little hard-core about the need for either eliminating grade crossings or making it harder to get around lights and gates.
December 2, 200618 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061202/NEWS11/612020391/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published December 2, 2006 First Fostoria overpass completed 2 more are scheduled in rail areas FOSTORIA - The first of three overpasses intended to alleviate railroad-related traffic and emergency-response delays in Fostoria opened to traffic yesterday, less than nine months after its construction began. The Tiffin Street bridge on the city's west side breaches one of Fostoria's so-called Iron Triangles - neighborhoods that could be isolated by trains. The $4.8 million overpass "will make it much safer for people needing emergency vehicles," Norman Redick, the district deputy director at the Ohio Department of Transportation's Lima office, said after a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday morning. More at link above:
December 4, 200618 yr A car hit by a 10,000 ton train is the equivalent of a tin can being run over by a car. That's the ratio. People just don't understand the huge disparity between vehicles and trains. I'm glad these overpasses are being built, not just to protect drivers, but also to protect trains from trucks. There have been some disasterous collisions over the years, like that collision in Bourbonais IL, that resulted in several deaths when the City of New Orleans plowed into a flatbed truck loaded with steel that got hung up on the tracks. People are woefully ignorant about trains and I have personally seen them take some unbelievable chances at grade crossings. Operation Lifesaver helps, but cars and trains really dont mix. Crossings should either be closed, use full-closure gates that seal them off to vehicles or grade separated.
December 4, 200618 yr ^A few months ago in Nashville I saw a crossing gate close on the hood of a Hummer H1 at a crossing. Because of the big chrome battering ram attached to the grille, it couldn't back up and was trapped by the gate. Actually they probably could have gotten out of the car and lifted the gate just like a parking garage's gate, but they weren't street smart enough to do this. There was enough clearance between the front bumper and the train, but it certainly contributed to the reputation of Hummer drivers as complete air-heads.
December 4, 200618 yr Ha ha...that's a good one. The one that sticks out in my mind is the morning I saw a driver go around downed gates and past a parked freight...and narrowly missed getting hit by the Lake Shore Limited, which came roaring thru on an adjacent track. Another was the time was on the Lake Shore and it hit a jeep with a snowplow that had gotten wedged in the tracks. The impact tossed the jeep aside like a rag doll, leaving a crushed vehicle with a wisp of steam rising from it (no one was hurt...they bailed out).
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