"ANGELS
AIM TO GET COUNTY ON TRACK FOR TRAIN SAFETY"
The News Herald
4/13/00
By: Dino DiSanto-Staff Writer
Five years ago,
Dennis and Vicky Moore lost their 16-year-old son, Ryan,
when a Conrail locomotive struck the car in which he was
traveling at a gateless grade crossing on the border of Stark
and Wayne counties.
Since then, the
couple, through their Canal Fulton-based Angels on Track
Foundation, have dedicated their lives to helping other victims
and counties prioritize dangerous grade crossings that need
ages and lights.
The pair presented
their case Tuesday to Lake County commissioners about forming
a task force to start identifying such crossings.
"We don't want
you to pick two or three crossings," Vicky Moore said. "This
is not a quick fix. We want all of the crossings identified."
Commission President
Daniel P. Troy said the county is serious about forming the
committee, not only for prioritizing crossings, but also
to educate the public.
The Moores got the
idea for the foundation after they sued the former Philadelphia-based
railroad company in civil court and won a judgment of $7
million. After paying legal fees, the remaining $5.4 million
went to forming The Angels on Track Foundation.
"How can you
take a personal gain from losing your son?" Dennis Moore
said of the cash won in court. We thought the money was best
used to help others from this happening to them."
The money will help
countywide task forces obtain funding for gates crossings.
The Moores cite
the high cost of building gates-from $90,000 to $250,000
a site-as the reason for helping out with as much as 30 percent,
or $40,000, toward the projects.
It isn't known if
the foundation's money would be needed to improve safety
at Lake County grade crossings.
U.s. Rep. Steven
C. LaTourette, R-Madison Village, obtained $9 million for
grade crossing improvements from Vermillion to Conneaut in
1998.
This almost ensured
that every major grade crossing without a gate would have
one by the end of 1999.
LaTourette's office
is still checking to see if that timeline was met.
The funding was
part of an agreement between CSX and Norfolk Southern so
the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to approve the split
of Conrail between the two railroad companies. Both Virginia-based
companies operate trains through Northeast Ohio.
Since 1990, there
have been eight fatalities at grade crossings in Lake County.
The latest occurred
in November at the Main Street grade crossing in Perry Village,
where a project had just been started to install a gate.
Before the gate
was up and functioning, Perry Village Sgt. Phillip Reed and
his wife, Susanne, lost their lives.
This was the second
such accident in Perry Village. In 1998, Jennifer Garry a
teen-ager at Perry High School, was killed at the Maple Road
grade crossing-about 1,500 feet west of the Main Street crossing.
Dan Garry, Jennifer's
father, hopes the committee will not only concentrate on
getting gates at each intersection, but also educating the
community.
"Half the community
lives on one side of the tracks and the other on the other
side." Garry said.
"I
think we just get so used to going over the tracks that
we don't think how dangerous those crossings are."
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