Railroad crossings to be made safer
OTTAWA, Ont. — The federal government is throwing in more than $2 million to improve safety at 35 railroad crossings across the country.
Work will be done on three crossings in B.C., two in Alberta, two in Manitoba, four in Ontario, 23 in Quebec and one in New Brunswick.
Under Transport Canada’s grade crossing improvement program, eligible crossings are either upgraded, relocated or closed. Improvements may include the installation of crossing gates and lights, adding gates or extra lights to existing systems, linking railroad signals to traffic lights, or changing signal timing.
Transport Canada funds up to 80 per cent of the cost of crossing improvements, and the rest of the money comes from the railways, municipalities or provinces.
“Transport Canada is committed to continually enhancing the safety of our rail transportation system,” says Federal Transport Minister David Collenette. “This financial assistance will improve safety by helping to reduce crossing accidents, injuries and fatalities across the country.”
According to Transport Canada, there were 278 railroad crossing accidents in 2001 that killed 41 people and injured 47 others.
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