Banff Alberta - Banff's mayor has requested a meeting with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) following the tragic death of a 19-year-old woman on the train tracks.
 
Mayor Corrie DiManno said the Town wants to follow up with the railway giant on talks about a potential solution to the illegal shortcut used by residents across the tracks between the town and industrial compound not far from where the woman was struck by a train.
 
DiManno said CP was invited to attend a council meeting in November 2021 to talk about potential solutions to the current illegal crossing, however a weather disaster in B.C. at the time that led to the collapse of infrastructure, including railway lines, meant the representative was not available.
 
"For the past year, administration has continued to invite CP to reschedule this, but that has not happened yet," she said.
 
Raven Sillito, also known as River, was killed when she was struck by a westbound train as she walked westbound along the tracks in Banff on the morning of 29 Dec 2022.
 
There is no evidence she was crossing the tracks.
 
Police believe she was wearing ear buds at the time of the incident, which may have contributed to her failing to hear the approaching train along the straight stretch of track.
 
"The female was pronounced deceased at the scene, and a RCMP collision reconstructionist was consulted," said RCMP Const. Sarah Williams.
 
Although the investigation is ongoing, Sillito's death has renewed discussion in the community about the potential for a safe crossing in the area.
 
Local social media sites have been very vocal.
 
The area between Whiskey Creek neighbourhood and Eagle Crescent in the industrial compound continues to be used as a shortcut for residents who work and live in the industrial compound to avoid walking or biking via Banff Avenue and Compound Road.
 
"Unfortunately, people continue to use this crossing between the town and the industrial compound in a place near where this tragedy occurred," said Mayor DiManno.
 
"We urge people to please avoid this crossing because it's very dangerous."
 
In 2021, the Town worked with CP and CP's consultant AECOM to develop concept designs for various options and alignments for a crossing.
 
One of the biggest challenges to finding a solution is the area is also considered environmentally sensitive.
 
The area is part of the Fenlands-Indian grounds wildlife corridor and is heavily used by wildlife moving east-west along the valley and navigating around the industrial compound.
 
In addition, Whiskey Creek is designated critical habitat for westslope cutthroat trout, which are listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act.
 
There is strong evidence that trout use the nearby shallow ponds for spawning.
 
Town of Banff administration does not believe an underpass solution is feasible due to significant environmental and technical concerns, including high groundwater levels and impacts to trout habitat, as well as a hefty price tag in the $5 to $20 million range.
 
An overpass, however, was not ruled out, but the multi-million dollar structure would need to be 200 metres long and more than seven metres high for clearance for the double-stack rail car trains.
 
This is CP's preferred option.
 
Town administrators say an overpass solution is a more viable and less risky option than an underpass in terms of construction costs, challenges, and risks, however, an overpass option still comes with a significant order of magnitude in capital costs.
 
"There is also a high potential for pedestrians to not use the overpass and simply continue to cross the tracks as they do now," said Stephen Allan, engineering coordinator for the Town of Banff in a 22 Nov 2021 report to council.
 
"An overpass would likely still require fencing or other methods to encourage pedestrians to use the safe bridge rather than just continuing to cross at the current informal location."
 
A controlled crossing at ground level, known as an at-grade crossing that could include lights, bells, fencing, and control arms, has early cost estimates in the range of $750,000 to $1.5 million.
 
However, this is not CP's preferred option and would only be viewed as an interim solution.
 
Allan said CP indicated an agreement with the Town would be required, with a condition that a certain volume of trains and pedestrians would trigger a need for an overpass or tunnel, resulting in the at-grade crossing infrastructure becoming redundant.
 
Because the informal crossing location crosses both the CP main track as well as a siding track, Allan said CP advised that an at-grade crossing would need to be designated a private crossing so that federal regulations prohibiting trains from stopping over an at-grade crossing for more than five minutes would not apply.
 
"In practice the crossing would be closed to pedestrians, whenever CP chose to park a train in the siding," he wrote in his report.
 
"This creates an additional safety risk for pedestrians who decide to save time and try and crawl over, under, or through the parked train. There is a serious potential for injury from either the parked train starting to move or a passing train on the main track."
 
DiManno said this is a multi-jurisdictional issue.
 
"Because it's outside the town boundary we need to work with CP and Parks Canada, and CP would determine what type of crossing is allowed over their tracks and land, if at all, and Parks Canada would be involved because of the sensitive land in that area," she said.
 
Roam has been running a bus service to and from the industrial compound in the mornings and afternoons since May 2022.
 
"We recognize this might not work for everyone's schedule, so we are also exploring a crosswalk and pedestrian-bike pathway on Banff Avenue onto Compound Road," said DiManno.
 
"That's outside the town boundary, so we would need to collaborate with Parks Canada on that."
 
CP police do patrol the area for trespassing, handing out $250 fines for those caught doing so.
 
A CP spokesperson confirmed the railway is meeting with the Town to discuss rail safety concerns, including the illegal crossing between the industrial area and townsite.
 
Cathy Ellis.