Barrington considers hiring crossing guards at railroad tracks
Barrington officials are in discussions to add crossing guards to assist pedestrians at railroad crossings in town.
It is one of the actions officials say they are pursuing after 17-year-old Marin Lacson was killed last month when struck by a Metra train at a downtown crossing as she walked to classes at Barrington High School.
“We have a third-party company that handles crossing guards,” Village Manager Scott Anderson said. “We’re working with them right now to secure how many people are available and the costs associated with that.”
The additional crossing guards are among the measures Anderson outlined in an email sent on behalf of the village board to Roma Khan of the Barrington Student Safety Organization, a volunteer group organized after the Jan. 25 fatality. Members have been volunteering as crossing guards between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. since Jan. 29.
Anderson wrote that the village has launched “an aggressive enforcement campaign to cite motorists violating rail safety devices” and is working with Metra to schedule rail safety training for community members.
The village also is installing pedestrian signs and warnings, and continuing talks with the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Illinois Department of Transportation about installing pedestrian gates, he added.
Anderson’s email was sent in response to Khan’s suggestion that the volunteers transition to crossing guards on March 4. She spoke at Monday’s village board meeting, which was attended by some of the group’s volunteers wearing pink and yellow vests.
“I want to make sure that no other parent has to suffer what the Lacsons are suffering right now,” she said. “We do need supervision. There is no substitute for supervision.”
Village board members and Village President Karen Darch conveyed their sympathies to the Lacson family at Monday’s meeting.
“I know there are so many in this community who were influenced and touched by Marin, included our family,” Trustee Kate Duncan said. “Her family (is) very well-known and loved in this community.”
She said the village takes safety seriously and praised the work of the volunteers.
“And we want everyone who lives in and visits this village to feel safe, including near our train crossings,” Duncan added.