Responding to the recent fatal crash of an Amtrak train in Bourbonnais, two Democratic senators Tuesday said they will introduce a bill this week to free up at least $50 million to improve safety at railroad crossings around the state.
The first major legislative response to the Amtrak tragedy came as senators also approved a bill to require gun owners to keep their weapons out of the reach of children and as the House passed a proposal to clear the way for southern Illinois developments in locations where endangered species litve.
The Railroad Safety 2000 program would mandate that $6 million be appropriated next year to leverage $50 million in bonds for grade-improvement projects, with annual appropriations possibly available after that.
The rail safety money would be used to hire more inspectors and improve crossing safety, said Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), who is drafting the legislation jointly with Sen. Larry Walsh (D-Elwood), who represents Bourbonnais.
They plan to introduce it by Friday.
“If it prevents one fatal railroad-car accident, then it is money well spent,” Link said.
The measure comes at a time of heightened awareness of railroad-crossing safety, as lawmakers react to last week’s deadly collision involving a passenger train and a truck south of Chicago.
On Tuesday, federal investigators wrapped up physical-evidence testing at the crossing, where 11 people died and more than 120 were injured last week. After interviewing eyewitnesses Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board will move the investigation to Washington, an agency spokesman said.
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Five crash victims remain hospitalized at Provena St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, a hospital spokeswoman said. Two are in critical condition, one is serious and two are stable.
Also Tuesday, senators passed a bill that would forbid trains from blocking traffic at crossings for more than 10 minutes during peak traffic times.
Illinois ranks second in the nation in railroad-crossing deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Between 1991 and 1998, there were 327 deaths at grade crossings in the state. This week, legislators want to know why.
Right now, Illinois law dictates that $6 million each year in receipts from motor fuel taxes be deposited in the rail grade-crossing fund and used for construction or reconstruction of crossing gates, lights and other safety devices.
Instead of pumping the money into that fund, Link and Walsh propose putting it into a bond fund. It would be used to raise approximately $50 million for several projects.
The bill may also propose issuing bonds in subsequent years, depending on whether the $6 million cash stream can support that. As they draft the specifics of the plan, Senate staffers are researching the finances.
One leader in the Republican-controlled Senate questioned how serious Link and Walsh’s proposal is, since the Democrats hadn’t approached them to discuss it.
“They haven’t talked to us,” said Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin), chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee whose support would be crucial to passage.
It was also unclear how far $50 million would go in fixing grade-crossing problems. A major upgrade of a rail crossing–which involves construction of an overpass or underpass–can cost in the neighborhood of $4 million, according to IDOT figures.
Adding gates, lights and signs costs about $150,000 per crossing. Many crossings around the state don’t have them; of the 936 crossings on state highways, for example, only 435 have both gates and lights.
In an action that one handgun control advocate called landmark, senators voted for a bill that would require people to either keep their firearms hidden from children or use trigger locks to prevent them from firing.
Pushed by Gov. George Ryan, the bill would make the first offense a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a mandatory $1,000 fine. Subsequent offenses would be Class A misdemeanors, which can carry a term of one year.
Given that the House passed a similar bill this week, opponents and supporters consider it likely that some sort of measure to restrict children’s access to guns will pass this spring. Gun-control activists have pushed unsuccessfully for such a law for years.
“The difference is the governor,” said Dan Kotowski, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. “People saw it was a winning issue.”
The House also sent to the Senate a bill that would allow developers whose projects would harm a threatened species to proceed as long as they receive state permission.
The bill, spurred by two southern Illinois projects, would require the developers to work with the Department of Natural Resources to come up with a plan to protect the species, said Carol Knowles, spokeswoman for the agency.
The plan could involve posting signs to alert the public to be careful, purchasing a nearby habitat for the species or moving the species altogether, Knowles said.
Sue Lauzon, executive director of the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board, said the legislation is modeled after similar laws used by other states and the federal government.