Owasso railroad crossings to get better markers

OWASSO, Okla. - Drivers will soon see flashing lights warning them of oncoming trains at two potentially dangerous railroad crossings in Owasso. The city is taking action to prevent accidents.

Some drivers say they've had close calls at the railroad crossings on North Mingo and 106th Street. They say drivers need to be better warned.
"There's the crossing sign, but there's nothing before you get to it, and of course no lights or no cross bar that comes down or anything," said Stephanie Lietzke, who lives just down the road.

She says it's easy to forget you're crossing train tracks.
"A lot of times I'll cross the tracks, and go, 'I forgot to look,'" Lietzke said.

"It definitely is a safety issue," said Rick Troia. "It's just that, there's not a lot of traffic there, and I don't think there's a whole lot of trains."

Troia crosses the railroad tracks on 106th Street every day on his way to work at Rejoice Christian Elementary School.
"If a train is coming, there's no sign a train is coming. There's just a sign, a cross-marked sign that says that there are tracks there," he said.

He'd like to see more of a warning for drivers. And he will soon. The city asked the railroad company and ODOT to install better markers at the railroad crossings. But the traffic volume wasn't high enough to spark a change. So the city decided to take action.
"It was just one of those situations where we didn't feel like waiting for an accident to happen or someone to get killed was a good reason to install better warnings," said Warren Lehr, the assistant city manager of Owasso.

The city is spending $20,000 to install solar-powered flashing lights and better cross hatching on the road. It will be paid for with a surplus left over from last year's streets budget.
"There were several near misses," Lehr said. "And when a state trooper comes to us and says 'this is a dangerous intersection and either I or a friend had a near miss' we take those things pretty seriously."

Crews will begin installing the new markers in the next 30 days.