Channelization of ped crossings

[Andrea Milne]

Leslie,

I read in the Goshen News (https://www.goshennews.com/news/plans-for-ninth-street-quiet-zone-picking-up-steam/article_e77b8c08-4f63-11ea-9be4-4b6d36689e64.html) about the ongoing plans to improve crossings along 9th St for the Quiet Zone. I'm disappointed to see that "pedestrian mazes" are still in the plan. My recollection is that when we (local bike advocates) discussed with you the negative impacts these mazes have on bicyclists who are forced to go through them (or swerve into the road, sometimes head-on), you were in agreement that the city would not pursue adding them to the remaining crossings. Ideally, we would also get the maze at the Kercher Road crossing removed immediately.

Why is this installation of mazes still in the plan? Nothing has been communicated to the biking community about why our concerns are not being addressed. I believe we deserve an explanation.

Andrea J. Milne, MUP (Master of Urban Planning)
Research and Visual Communications Consultant

Dovetail Projects, LLC
ajm...@dovetailprojects.com
www.dovetailprojects.com
(574) 400-5858

[Andrea Milne]

My previous email (see below) was returned saying it was too large with the images, so I've put them in a file for you to download here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7a7ed7qrhxpa6d2/AAAf2xYiHVqcw_c1PVd2GbwSa?dl=0

Andrea J. Milne, MUP (Master of Urban Planning)
Research and Visual Communications Consultant

Dovetail Projects, LLC
ajm...@dovetailprojects.com
www.dovetailprojects.com
(574) 400-5858

On Wed, Feb 19, 2020 at 9:53 AM Andrea Milne <andreaj...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for your quick response, Jeremy. I did a bit of research this morning and found a few images of other Quiet Zones in Indiana, on NS lines. Below, I've included those that have a Google Street View image available that is after the QZ established year. Please use these examples in any conversations you have with NS if they try to tell you we "have to" have more than just a sign that says "No Train Horn." 

And please let me know if there are other ways I or others can help with any research or letter writing. Thanks for your work on this!

Andrea J. Milne, MUP (Master of Urban Planning)
Research and Visual Communications Consultant

Dovetail Projects, LLC
ajm...@dovetailprojects.com
www.dovetailprojects.com
(574) 400-5858

On Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 1:37 PM Stutsman, Jeremy <jeremys...@goshencity.com> wrote:

Andrea, 

We have had some discussions with the railroad about other options for the mazes.  I am not sure that they have responded with any other options at this point but we will check back in with them.  These are not our favorite option either.  To finalize the quiet zone we have to go with the option/options the railroad allows.  We need to balance several different aspects of safety with these crossings.  I will check to see if there are any updates on what we are allowed to install.

Sincerely,

Jeremy P. Stutsman

Mayor of Goshen

202 South Fifth Street, Suite 1

Goshen, IN  46528

(574) 533-9322 x2322 – office

(574) 533-9740 – fax

jeremys...@goshencity.com

www.goshenindiana.org

www.facebook.com/CityOfGoshen

           

 

From: Biek, Leslie
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 1:18 PM
To: Andrea Milne
Cc: mayor; Stutsman, Jeremy; Goshen Bikes; Sailor, Dustin
Subject: RE: Channelization of ped crossings

 

Hi Andrea,

After February 28^th, I will no longer be working for the City of Goshen. I was not able to find an acceptable alternative to the pedestrian mazes but was hopeful they could be adjusted to accommodate the same goal without being as difficult to maneuver. It is out of my hands now. Best of luck.

 

Thanks,

 

Leslie Biek, PE

Goshen Engineering

Ph: 574-534-2201

lesli...@goshencity.com

[Andrea Milne]

Oops! I took out the info about when those Quiet Zones went into effect...  St. John, IN (QZ est. 2019) is probably the best example as it is very recent and has a similar road/rail crossing to our Kercher Rd. Lafayette QZ was established in 2013.

Andrea J. Milne, MUP (Master of Urban Planning)

Research and Visual Communications Consultant

Dovetail Projects, LLC

and...@dovetailprojects.com
www.dovetailprojects.com
(574) 400-5858

On Wed, Feb 19, 2020 at 10:19 AM Stutsman, Jeremy <jeremys...@goshencity.com> wrote:

Andrea,

I will look into this.  Depending on when those quiet zones were established the railroad could have changed their standards.  Hopefully this will help us find some middle ground with these mazes.  End of the day, we want this to function as best as possible and have our quiet zone implemented.

 

Thank you for this information!

[John Yoder]

Andrea,

Thanks for your work gathering these photos and examples. Has there been any discussion of is using “barriers” like the ones at the RR crossing on Monroe?  At that crossing,  the maze is much easier to navigate and there are two tracks, much faster trains (at least four times faster) and 10 times more trains each day, though it is no quiet zone.

 

I thought the yellow signs at several Lafayette crossing were interesting. (They are also hard to read in the picture):  “ATTENTION:  Remote Control Locomotives Operate in This Area. Locomotive Cabs May Be Unoccupied.” So the train could not stop, even if a person were crossing ahead of it. And I’m guessing that also means they are going slow, just like the trains on the 9^th Street line. In my mind, RR liability would be greater at those Lafayette crossings than on 9^th St.

 

John Yoder

Yoder...@gmail.com

574-596-4299

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[John Nafziger]

If the maze at Monroe Street is sufficient for the double track and higher speed trains there then similar mazes should certainly be good enough at all the crossings along 9th Street. We certainly want to avoid what was done at Kercher Road.

Thanks John for bringing that to our attention.

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John Nafziger

Goshen, IN

[Evan Bontrager]

The sign from the other direction at that same crossing is actually more relevant (attached). This sign indicating "No Train Horn" is actually all that is in the Federal recommendations. Anything beyond that is simply an increased request from the rail operator.

Evan Bontrager
Ev...@Bontrager.net

+1 574-238-0534 mobile

On Wed, Feb 26, 2020 at 12:26 PM John Yoder <yoder...@gmail.com> wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goshenbikes/008501d5ecc9%24e28471d0%24a78d5570%24%40gmail.com.