Cyr to get railroad crossing

Two new railroad crossings have been approved at Cyr. One will be installed at Sawmill Gulch and the other at Daigle Lane. County Commissioner, Roman Zylway said that the crossing on Daigle Lane affects 28 homes that need to access the crossing, as well as a river guide company.  

“The Sawmill Gulch crossing can be a hazard because it’s difficult to see if a train is coming around the curve,” said Zylawy, “it also is located at the bottom of a hill and can be hazardous if the roads are icy.”  He said that the crossings will be installed by 2017.

Incidents of train and motor vehicle collisions have decreased dramatically as the result of a Federal railroad program called “Operation Lifesaver” started in 1972. According to the Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety, prior to the start of the program there were approximately 12,000 annual collisions.  Since then, incidents have declined and according to a 2014 report there were only 2,286 incidents nationally, a decrease of 81%.  

In 2014, in Montana there were 14 collisions, two of them fatal, and two with injuries.