Train Accident Newsroom

The Fact That There Have Been Three Accidents At The Crossing In The Last Five Years, And, According To Railroad Records, 40 Near-Misses Reported

Belen The railroad crossing at Ross Avenue in Belen will stay open after a unanimous vote from the Belen City Council during Monday's regular meeting.

The usually near-empty council room was filled with citizens who expressed their vehement opposition to closing the crossing.

The possible closure of the road was first discussed at two public meetings in February. During those meetings, Belen Mayor Ronnie Torres told residents that the railroad crossing at Ross is considered to be the second most dangerous crossing in the state by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and the city was considering closing it. Torres told citizens at the meetings that the city could gain something if the crossing were closed: a quiet zone for railroad trains passing through Belen.

Residents who live near the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks complained about train whistle noise at a meeting in July. BNSF officials said that Belen could be declared a quiet zone meaning that whistles would be blown less frequently and at a lower decibel. But in order to become a quiet zone, safety upgrades would have to be made at every crossing in the city limits, at a cost to the city of between $1.2 million and $2.5 million.

During the February meetings, Torres said the city and the railroad had recently reached an agreement that if the city chose to close the crossing, BNSF would pay for the safety upgrades to the remaining crossings in Belen needed to make Belen a quiet zone.

At Monday's meeting, Henry Gonzales of the New Mexico Department of Transportation said that the intersection's ranking as the second-most dangerous intersection in the state is based on the fact that there have been three accidents at the crossing in the last five years, and, according to railroad records, 40 near-misses reported. Other factors, such as visibility and safety precautions in place at the crossing are also considered in the equation that the NMDOT uses to determine the probability of accidents happening at the crossing in the future. In response to a question from Councilor Rudy Jaramillo, Gonzales said none of the accidents at the Ross crossing have been fatalities.

Gonzales said that when a crossing is determined to be unsafe, federal and state policy call for transportation officials to first recommend closing the crossing. But the final decision, he said, is up to the municipality.

"This is something for the council and the citizens to decide," he said. "We are only presenting options. We see more benefit to closing this crossing. Safety increases significantly if we close this crossing. I'm not pushing anything on anyone, I'm just giving you the information that we have."

Citizens at Monday's meeting said they didn't think that closing the crossing was a wise way to accomplish a quiet zone or make traffic safer. Kenneth Hainsworth, who lives in the area, said that if the crossing is unsafe, it should be repaired.

"I've lived in railroad towns all my life, and I don't find them (trains) objectionable during the day or at four o' clock in the morning," he said. "I see no benefit to the city of closing this crossing. If the crossing is as dangerous as is being said, it should have been brought up long before this and not along with this quiet zone. If it's a dangerous crossing, fix the crossing. By taking 400 cars and pushing them to Aragon and Reinken, you're going to make dangerous intersections and dangerous side streets. So I don't see the benefit to the city in any of this."

Other citizens raised concerns about how emergency vehicles would access the area if the Ross crossing were closed and an accident or snowstorm blocked off Reinken Avenue's overpass.

Robert Kaneshiro said that closing Ross would only make more traffic pass through the other crossings in the city, and because those crossings are farther from the rail yard and trains are traveling faster by the time they reach the other crossings, it is more likely that an accident on other crossings would be more serious.

"I agree that safety is the most important thing here," he said. "And, if you think about it, the thing to do is to fix Ross so that it is safe. Put down more gates, whatever it takes. As you get out of the yard, the crossings get more dangerous. The speed of the train increases. It's a lot easier for a train to stop at Ross for a car or a kid than it is at Aragon or Mesa Road. If we divert traffic to other streets where the train is going faster, if you have an accident, it's probably going to be a fatality."

Councilor Terese Ulivarri asked for a show of hands from the audience of those who were opposed to the closure of the road. Many hands were raised. When asked who was in favor of the road closure, no hands were raised.

When the issue was put to a vote, Councilor David Lopez said that although he believed closing Ross would benefit the city more than keeping it open, he thought the city should do what its citizens wanted.

"In my opinion, I feel that closing Ross would be in the city's best interest," he said. "However, the citizens feel differently. At this point, here in 2005, they feel that this is not in their best interest. So, due to the fact that there are so many people here and they appear to oppose the closure, I move that the road of Ross not be closed."

Ulivarri seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously. The decision was greeted with applause from the audience.

Lopez also said he thinks the decision to keep Ross open is not the last the city will hear of problems related to railroad crossings.

"In a few short years, you guys can mark my words, we will probably be sitting here discussing this issue again," he said.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad will share the cost of upgrading the crossing at Ross Avenue to meet safety standards.

Voted to approve a zoning change for property located near the Cemco, Inc. factory just off I-25 on Don Luis Trujillo Boulevard in Belen. Tony Lopez, owner of a business called Paint Desert Stoneware, asked for a change from commercial zoning to manufacturing zoning, saying he hopes to open a plant where his company's pre-fabricated stone products can be manufactured.

Voted in favor of a resolution adopting a cooperative agreement with the New Mexico Department of Transportation for paving improvements to 11th Street from Bernard to Dillon, Michigan, Gabaldon Place, Barboa Place, Laura Drive south of Velta, and Seventh Street south of Dillon to Bernard. The city is applying for $149,423 in funding. The city's portion would be $37,356. Also, the council approved the submission of Belen's application to be considered for funding under the Municipal Arterial Program to make improvements to Becker Street. Belen City Manager Sally Garley said the project would cost $914,871, with a cost to the city of $228,718, if the city's MAP funding application is approved. All the projects under consideration would begin in 2006.

Voted to award a bid for the installation of automatic gates at the Belen Alexander Airport to Bixby Electric Inc. for $42,627. The council also heard a report from Garley that the city has been awarded an $871,000 federal grant to pay for the purchase of additional land near the airport to allow for a buffer zone between the airport and residences. U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D, N.M., secured the money in a fiscal year 2005 spending bill, according to a press release from his office