News

By Jane Smith

    City leaders and railroad officials want to prevent another pedestrian from dying while illegally cutting across the tracks in downtown Delray Beach.
    In early August, a woman left Johnny Brown’s on Atlantic and took a well-used shortcut across the FEC tracks. She was killed by a southbound freight train.
    The group met in early September to discuss the situation and the need for pedestrian barriers in the four blocks north and four blocks south of Atlantic Avenue.
    “It was a very productive meeting,” said Mayor Cary Glickstein. “They are open to just anything.”
    The city wants pedestrian barriers installed in time for the expected start next summer of the Brightline express passenger rail service between Miami and West Palm Beach. Brightline trains will reach up to 79 mph between the two cities. There is no estimate for the number of trains passing through Delray Beach in this phase.
    The second phase, which will end in Orlando, will feature 32 trips daily.
    The city’s engineers will bring design proposals to the City Commission workshop in January. The group may meet before then, Glickstein said, “subject to how well we can generate a feasible, responsible strategy. The ball is in our court.”
    The county’s Metropolitan Planning Organization head, Nick Uhren, attended the group meeting. A week later, he told his board of elected officials that Delray Beach is taking the lead and working with Brightline and FEC to prevent another tragedy.
    “The MPO would walk alongside them and share the information with coastal communities,” Uhren said.
    The barriers also please Delray Beach safety advocate Patrick Halliday. As vice chairman of Human Powered Delray, he pressed for them.
    “I made an issue out of it,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we have to have something terrible happen before we wake up.”
    A check with city police showed no citations or warnings issued to pedestrians for trespassing along the FEC rail lines near Atlantic Avenue for the first eight months of this year and the first eight months of 2015. It’s possible that pedestrians may have been cited or warned because the city Police Department keeps records by street names and not the FEC lines, said its spokeswoman.
    The types of barrier were not decided at the group meeting. The barriers could be as elaborate as fence with landscaping or done for a lower cost where the railroad owns most of the land.
    “There are examples in West Palm Beach by the courthouse where a mature bougainvillea hedge is enough of a deterrent,” Glickstein said.
    “Most people do not realize much of the paved roadway between the west side of the tracks, just north of Atlantic — where the recent accident occurred — and the commercial establishments are within the FEC right of way,” he said.
    All Aboard Florida, the precursor to Brightline, is working with the city as it “determines the next steps and preferred improvements,” said Ali Soule, All Aboard spokeswoman.
    She provided its track maps to the city’s Environmental Services Department for engineers to use to determine where the pedestrian barriers can sit.
    “They prefer us to stay off of their land,” said John Morgan, head of Environmental Services. “But they are open to it if we can show them it can’t be done otherwise.”
    Morgan also said they discussed having a Volpe Center study done in Delray Beach, similar to the one finished two years ago in West Palm Beach. Volpe leaders reviewed trespasser incidents along two railroads from 2009 to 2013 in the city and made recommendations about what to do to prevent pedestrians and bicyclists from trespassing.
    Delray Beach does not have the time to do the study, Morgan said, if it wants the barriers in place for the start of the Brightline service. His staff will review the Volpe recommendations and use the best ideas for Delray Beach.
    The Volpe Center, named for former Secretary of Transportation John Volpe, is the research arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
    Later this year, a Brightline train will be tested between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, after the repair facility is finished in West Palm Beach, Soule said.
    Who will pay for the barriers is to be determined. It could be the city, its Community Redevelopment Agency, grants through the MPO, federal grants or a combination of the sources, Glickstein said. A legislative aide from U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel’s office attended the group meeting.
    Florida ranked second last year for trespasser deaths along rail lines nationwide. Operation Lifesaver, a nonprofit public safety organization based in Virginia, works to raise awareness of the dangers of being near the tracks, said Libby Rector Snipe, communications director.
    Its “See Tracks? Think Train” national campaign has radio and TV public service announcements designed to prevent trespassing along the rail lines. In Florida, the organization ran an anti-selfie digital ad in April. The ad was geared to teens and young adults about the dangers of taking selfies along the tracks, Rector Snipe said.
    Soule agreed about the importance of safety.
    “All Aboard Florida is working on a comprehensive plan to educate all communities along the corridor about the importance of train safety,” she said.