Barrington, IDOT will seek pedestrian gates at rail crossings

Barrington and the Illinois Department of Transportation will petition the Illinois Commerce Commission to allow pedestrian gates at several railroad crossings in town.

But the process, which will seek gates for crossings at Hough Street, Main Street and Hillside Avenue, likely will run into 2026.

The lack of pedestrian safety gates emerged as an urgent issue for the village earlier this year, after the death of 17-year-old Barrington High School student Marin Lacson. She was struck and killed by a Metra train at the Hough Street crossing Jan. 25.

Officials said IDOT will lead the filing process. The petition is likely to be filed early next year following legal review.

“Right now, that draft petition is being reviewed by our legal counsel and the state's legal counsel,” Deputy Village Manager Marie Hansen said. “A year and a half is probably the short end of this process.”

In the interest of efficiency, the village will perform engineering work while the petition is pending. The ICC, which is responsible for regulating railroads and railroad crossings in Illinois, must approve the gates.

The village remains committed to doing everything in its control to keep the project moving forward as quickly as possible, Hansen added.

Barrington officials said ICC representatives have made multiple site visits and met with village, IDOT and the Union Pacific officials since January. The agency also has guided the process of building out the project scope prior to the petition filing.