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Friend’s memory inspires Gauvin
By Scott Kelly
Staff Writer Granite City Journal
Wed. March 25, 1998
On a busy Wednesday afternoon, the railroad crossing signals on Pontoon Road and Nameoki
start flashing, and the gates begin to lower.
Several cars wait patiently for the train that’s sure to come. Fortunately, no one
was foolish enough to zig-zag around the gates. Quite suddenly, a St. Louis -bound Amtrak
whizzes by at 90 miles an hour.
A railroad crossing is a dangerous place. It may not seem so at many of the crossings
inside Granite City and Madison, where trains servicing such places as the steel mills
inch back and forth across streets at speeds no more than a few miles an hour.
However, in the outer limits of the cities and more rural areas, trains hit high speeds.
Unfortunately for some, many crossings bear no more warning than signs and
crossbucks. The
trains’ horn s are the only other alert drivers get.
Scott Gauvin, a former area resident, knows firsthand how dangerous some crossings are.
His best friend Eric Ivie, was killed at the crossing at Oldenburg road just off of Old
Alton road. That crossing is now closed off, in part because of Gauvin.
Gauvin of Springfield, Ill., has formed the Coalition for Safer Crossings for the greater
southern Illinois area.
"The Coalition for Safer Crossings is... comprised of individuals who just want to be
a part of saving lives," he said. "Through education and investigation we can
save lives."
"At the current time local government officials either are not concerned with this
issue or are attacking it from the wrong end. This is why the coalition was formed, to
fill the gaps where officials drop the ball," he said.
Gauvin said the crossing on Oldenburg road would still be open if it were left to the
local officials.
However, he said his coalition was not designed to work against local or state officials,
but rather, with them. Local governments often do not have the funds or resources to place
more than crossbucks at rural or unincorporated area crossings, and that’s mainly
where action needs to be taken, he said.
"The Coalition through community involvement and investigation can alert local and
state officials of a dangerous situation," he said, with the idea of correcting the
situation.
According to the Illinois Railroad Crossing Safety Council, 70 percent of all accidents
occur at crossings equipped with active warning signals such as a lowered gate or flashing
crossbuck signs.
For example, the Pontoon crossing at Nameoki has had it’s share of accidents.
"There have been a ton of accidents there" Gauvin said. "People think,
‘I have enough time.’"
Gauvin hopes to reduce the number of crossing accidents and deaths through education and
action. In 1996, according to data provided by the Department of Transportation, there
were 210 accidents and 37 deaths in Illinois. With everyone's’ help, Gauvin said,
those statistics will be reduced.
To that end Gauvin’s organization will soon put out requests for area residents to
relate their tales of "near misses" at Tri-city area crossings, as part of the
investigative aspect of the coalition.
The Coalition for Safer Crossings joins other railroad safety organizations such as
Operation Lifesaver, which filmed "Byron’s Last Day" in 1997 in Madison and
Venice. The film, which starred students, teaches safety around railroad yards. |
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