8 July 2008
Man Struck by Train
Salmon Arm British Columbia - The Canada Day accident at
the Marine Park Drive rail crossing, which saw a Kelowna man injured about 9:30 p.m. when struck by a CP train, has been deemed as
unfortunate by Coun. Al Harrison but not an indication the crossing is unsafe.
Although the man suffered head and leg injuries, police reported he is expected to recover.
"A person has to take some personal responsibility and I guess he was intoxicated," said Harrison acknowledging an RCMP
report which did conclude the man was intoxicated. "Everything is in place there to keep people safe... A person has to take some
personal responsibility to make sure they are not drunk and wandering around."
CP Railway spokesperson Mike Lovecchio echoed Harrison's view.
"I think it's important here to note, yet again, we have an incident with a trespasser on the rail line and he was injured because
he was on the rail line," he said. "Let's be frank here, this was preventable and absolutely unnecessary."
Lovecchio, who also shared Harrison's comment of "unfortunate" when referring to the accident, said CP records all such
incidents. He added, "and for us, in the company, they're all tragedies because these locomotives are driven by people and they
have to deal with the consequences of having gone through something like this."
Harrison made the motion in council that led to CP Rail's commitment to double track the rail line through Salmon Arm in order to
eliminate the long waits that occur when two trains pass from opposite directions. Asked about an underpass or overpass in the area, he
said: "I don't anticipate there being any major changes at that end (of Lakeshore Drive) in regards to an underpass or
pedestrian overpass for some time," he said. "We have a pedestrian underpass planned, probably working with the trails
people, but it would be installed somewhere around the other end of Lakeshore, around 17th. That would enable pedestrian traffic to go
from there along the trail."
Asked about the Marine Park area getting busier, Harrison agreed, noting, "And there is rezoning over there. Buildings haven't
necessarily been built yet. But, in my infrastructure priorities, the underpass at 20th and 21st, south-north under the
highway, is a higher priority than that one and we do have federal money, $1.1 million, to help us with that. I anticipate that will
happen first, probably around 2009, 2010, and then our long-term financial plan shows an underpass down on the waterfront
in probably 2013 or 2014."
As general manager of the Prestige Harbourfront Resort and Convention Centre, Tim Giandomenico has followed the developments around
the railway crossing that separates his business from the downtown core. His concern is that action will only be taken after something
severe happens.
"It will probably take a tragedy like this (Canada Day incident) for something to happen sooner than later," he said.
"There are so many incidents every summer of people going over the tracks while the trains are stopped (temporarily) or trying to
run it (beat a train to the crossing). It's going to happen... it has to. We're getting so busy down here it's inevitable."
Giandomenico said he knows "the city is trying" and added, "they understand they need it but there are a whole pile of
issues around getting it done. At the end of the day, though, there has to be a political will to get it done and that hasn't
happened. Right now, there isn't the push, so we wait."
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