JonAndAshly
Posts:232
 | | 01/29/2008 6:21 PM |
 Alert | | My husband said that he has been at the light by Frys for a good 20 minutes. | | | |
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lovecopasometimes
Posts:43
| | 01/29/2008 6:24 PM |
Alert | | My husband was coming from south of the train tracks, and waited for about 15-20 min before turning around and coming home; bad for me, I'm soooo sick and he was leaving to pick up my prescriptions!!! | | | |
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JonAndAshly
Posts:232
| | 01/29/2008 6:25 PM |
Alert | | My husband just told me a homeless guy just got hit by a train. | | | |
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Takingabreak
Posts:279
| | 01/29/2008 6:28 PM |
Alert | | Did your husband actuallly get through or is he still sitting there? | |
Need a tax write off? Donate to the Maricopa SALVATION ARMY EMERGENCY SERVICES FUND. | |
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lovecopasometimes
Posts:43
| | 01/29/2008 6:30 PM |
Alert | Oh my gosh! rest in peace... now we must move on and open up the road so I can stop vomiting and make my bronchitis go away... bad day!
Let me know if the road opens back up, etc... I need this medication tonight. | | | |
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JonAndAshly
Posts:232
| | 01/29/2008 6:32 PM |
Alert | | He is still sitting there. Hasnt moved. People are dumping their cars left and right and turning around. | | | |
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lovecopasometimes
Posts:43
| | 01/29/2008 6:38 PM |
Alert | | keep us all posted, thanks! | | | |
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Takingabreak
Posts:279
| | 01/29/2008 6:40 PM |
Alert | Lovecopa,
There is a long way around. south to Farrell (1 street north of the casino) west to Hidden Valley, then north to the 238, east again to JWP. I think Ralston is east of Hidden Valley, where the pavement ends on Farrell and can take you to the 238. About 15 min. of driving due to the 25 mph through the reservation. | |
Need a tax write off? Donate to the Maricopa SALVATION ARMY EMERGENCY SERVICES FUND. | |
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Jason
Posts:3377
| | 01/29/2008 6:45 PM |
Alert | | For some reason this kind of traffic makes people behave very strangely. I was nearly hit by a small sedan that thought it had right of way in my lane simply because there was an accident in its lane, then nearly head on by a Sheriff crossing between shopping malls and then again by traffic in the right lane of Smith-Enke that thought they could just swerve into my lane because the idiots on JWP don't know not to stop in the intersection. | |
Joined: Jul 2005 | |
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JonAndAshly
Posts:232
| | 01/29/2008 6:46 PM |
Alert | | Husband is home now. Says its moving. | | | |
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Takingabreak
Posts:279
| | 01/29/2008 6:48 PM |
Alert | | My husband made it home. I hear the train moving now. | |
Need a tax write off? Donate to the Maricopa SALVATION ARMY EMERGENCY SERVICES FUND. | |
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lovecopasometimes
Posts:43
| | 01/29/2008 6:50 PM |
Alert | | Thanks guys. | | | |
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Colgate
Posts:575
| | 01/29/2008 6:56 PM |
Alert | | I have not a clue what was going on! I tooka left into the Villages after sitting in front of Fry's Gas for over 20 min. I went clear around my elbow and ended up at my butt!!! I was clear down past Harrah's and the road was this thick dirt, who know's could have been cow poop!!! Anyway I made it back home finially. | |
Live every day as if it were your last and smile! | |
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GoinCrazy
Posts:184
| | 01/29/2008 7:01 PM |
Alert | | No one was hit by the train...the arms were, once again, stuck in the DOWN position. | |
Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.
Unknown
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Ocotillo
Posts:24
| | 01/29/2008 9:17 PM |
Alert | | Mechanical devices occasionally fail. THIS mechanical device (the crossing alarm and gate) is the ONLY thing standing between us and 70-mph trains, soon to be numbering 80 a day. What is so hard to figure out about the DIRE NEED for a grade separation???!!! PLEASE!!!! | | | |
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RichTig
Posts:1058
| | 01/29/2008 9:33 PM |
Alert | | They should have an overpass. | | | |
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GilaGuy
Posts:789
| | 01/30/2008 12:20 AM |
Alert | <div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Ocotillo on 01/29/2008 9:17 PM
What is so hard to figure out about the DIRE NEED for a grade separation???!!! PLEASE!!!!</div>
Simple. The "where's the money going to come from" question. That's what is so hard to figure out.
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Ocotillo
Posts:24
| | 01/30/2008 8:12 PM |
Alert | I GET that there is a lot of money at stake. I was primarily venting my frustration at comments like these (which I'm pasting from the article last Friday on azcentral.com):
"Union Pacific understands that whether a grade separation is needed is primarily a question of mobility and convenience for vehicular traffic on the roadway, not safety," the railroad said in a written response. "Union Pacific believes the question of whether a grade separation is needed is irrelevant to Union Pacific's application to add a second mainline track at these grade crossings."
Convenience? I don't care HOW long I have to wait at the tracks, as long as I get to pass through AFTER a train and can be reasonably assured there's not another one barrelling towards me. I don't like risking my family's life on a mechanical device. (You cannot make a visual to LOOK for a train until it's too late to stop.) Safety IS an issue, UP.
I'm also frustrated after reading some months back that city leaders were (1) considering caving and not pressuring the railroad for some $$$ and (2) considering putting in a grade separation somewhere else, miles from 347.
I think there are lots of entities who could share the bill: the railroad because THEY want to expand and I expect would therefore increase profit, the state because it's a state highway, the city because it would benefit residents, and I notice a lot of developers have profitted by planting TONS of houses on the far side of the tracks.
I just pray it won't take a death (or several) before everyone is willing to cough up some dough. | | | |
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GilaGuy
Posts:789
| | 01/30/2008 9:53 PM |
Alert | <div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Ocotillo on 01/30/2008 8:12 PM
I think there are lots of entities who could share the bill: the railroad because THEY want to expand and I expect would therefore increase profit, the state because it's a state highway, the city because it would benefit residents, and I notice a lot of developers have profitted by planting TONS of houses on the far side of the tracks.
I just pray it won't take a death (or several) before everyone is willing to cough up some dough.</div>
Your initial issue with the inherent risks of crossing railroad tracks is something that can't really be countered. If mechanical things are going to fail (which they sometimes do, rare as those occasions may be), we are all at their mercy. That's true whether we are in our car and the wheels fall off, in our home with the roof falling down on us, or at a railroad crossing with a signal failing to activate. A grade separation may remove the risk of having a faulty crossing signal ruin your day, but it cannot remove risk entirely. When you get an overpass or underpass, inevitably someone will crash into a support pylon or go over the side. And historically, traffic accidents of that sort are more common than train-vs-car wrecks are. It's a "choose your poison" sort of affair.
The bit about coughing up money is easy for the two of us to say. :-) Because with the exception of city tax dollars, it isn't our money we are talking about. And that's just it...nobody wants to put up their hard-earned (or hard-taxed) money. The railroad already owns the right-of-way it is building its second track on, the state is cutting back on spending in the midst of a budget crunch, the city has a tremendous amount of expense on its plate already and needs to see what the final fiscal cost of its new police and fire departments are before it makes plans and promises. With all of that in mind, I believe it is going to be a fairly long time before we see anything physical in terms of a grade separation. | | | |
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