A bicyclist’s recent death at the South Calumet Road railroad crossing in Chesterton’s downtown has spurred town officials and the neighboring Porter community to explore ways to improve pedestrian safety around the tracks.
The two towns are jointly seeking, through the office of U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, a community project federal grant that would pay $5.5 million toward the $6.885 million cost for making safety improvements at nine crossings.
Chesterton officials recently authorized surveying work at the South Calumet Road crossing for an immediate pedestrian safety improvement there because the town is building a parking lot at Grant Avenue and Calumet Road that will open in July.
On Feb. 28, Frank Remm, 70, became the third pedestrian fatality to occur at a Chesterton railroad crossing since May 2023.
In the cases of Remm and 14-year-old Sylis Wilfinger, officials believe they failed to see two trains were traveling in opposite directions on separate tracks.
Chesterton police are still investigating Remm’s case and there is a question of whether the crossing gates were up or down. Wilfinger, who died on May 9, 2023, had headphones on and apparently didn’t see a second train coming at the 15th Street crossing.
There is a daily average of 85 trains from Norfolk Southern, CSX and Amtrak that rumble through the 1.14-mile corridor of tracks in Chesterton and Porter. The towns have 11 crossings, with nine of them involving potential pedestrian traffic.
The joint community project application, written by Tina Rongers, who is the town of Chesterton’s grant consultant, makes the case for a safety upgrade.
“The local need for railroad crossing safety improvements is exemplified by the density of community assets within a 1-mile radius of the corridor, and the heightened public concern over three recent pedestrian fatalities,” Rongers wrote.
Even more vehicle and pedestrian traffic is anticipated to be generated when the Duneland YMCA fully transforms the old middle school building into a Healthy Living Campus.
“This multi-use facility may generate 5,000 trips a day once fully operational,” Rongers wrote.
The increased potential for more juveniles crossing the railroad tracks to go to the YMCA has been a topic of discussion between Chesterton and Porter officials, said Michael Barry, Porter’s building commissioner and development director.
Barry said he learned that Mrvan was looking for Northwest Indiana communities to apply for projects and contacted Chesterton about teaming up on the grant application for improved pedestrian safety for railroad crossings. He credited Rongers for her work in putting the grant application together.
If the towns are successful in obtaining the grants, it is anticipated that it will take until 2029 to make the safety improvements at nine crossings.
One of the potential innovations would be the installation of passive Z-gates.
The gates naturally cause pedestrians to look both ways because of their zig-zag configuration, said Assistant Town Engineer Matt Gavelek.
“While one can never predict if a safety measure will be able to stop a fatality, safety measures are installed with the goal to provide as much awareness to the traveling public as possible,” Gavelek said.
Other potential safety improvements include sign pavement markings, tubular markers, channelization, and advance warning signs.
The grant application also offers a pared-down package of safety improvements.
A smaller version at a lower cost would address the town of Chesterton’s priority crossings of Calumet Road, 4th Street and 15th Street, while Porter would want the Amtrak crossings at Jackson Boulevard and Waverly Road to be addressed.
Meanwhile, Chesterton town officials are taking immediate steps to improve pedestrian safety at the Calumet Road railroad crossing. Council directed the town engineer’s office to survey the crossing and come up with strategies for pedestrian improvements.
Councilwoman Erin Collins, D-2nd, said during the March 24 council meeting that the Calumet crossing should be addressed first because of the parking lot being built at Grant Avenue.
The parking lot is likely to see its heaviest use on Saturdays from May through October, when the European Market is held.
A fence will be installed around the lot so pedestrians, especially children, don’t wander onto the nearby tracks.
Gavelek said that he and Town Engineer Mark O’Dell had a “constructive” meeting with Norfolk Southern Railroad officials on March 13. Most of the trains that pass through Chesterton daily are from Norfolk Southern.
“They were very knowledgeable about our shared crossings throughout the whole town, and they asked us to communicate to the council their support for safety improvements. They shared with us permitting tips and grant opportunities. In addition, they offered to help with any kind of public awareness,” Gavelek said.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.