Preventing accidents at railway crossings involves a number of factors, one of which is visibility. The Government of Canada is investing $1,315,000 to upgrade 204 high-priority railway crossings nation-wide, including 10 crossings in the Yorkton-Melville constituency. A total of $52,000 will be spent in the area to improve these high-priority rail safety projects.
The new funding under the Grade Crossing Improvement Program (GCIP) will be used to replace incandescent lights with LED light signals. Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. for Yorkton-Melville, says the new signals should be both brighter and more reliable than the old ones, which should make the crossings safer.
"That's the real impetus behind all of this, safety," Breitkreuz says.
The crossings chosen for the upgrades were picked based on consultations with local government, police, and rail companies, choosing the crossings which are judged to have the greatest need for upgrades.
"This is not a federal government decision, this is a local decision that is made," Breitkreuz emphasizes.
Collisions at rail crossing have been dropping significantly in the past few years. According to Transportation Safety Board figures, crossing collisions decreased by 4 per cent in 2010 from the previous year and by 21 per cent compared to the previous five-year average. Breitkreuz credits programs like this with the decrease in collisions and emphasizes that safety is the primary concern when it comes to the GCIP.
The planned upgrades will take place over the coming year, with the first beginning in the spring.
