Changes to at-grade rail crossings will need federal funding, says Mayor Jim Watson

Mayor Jim Watson says the citywill explore the need foroverpasses or underpasses at five separate level rail crossings but any actual changes couldrequire the financial assistance of the federal government.

The news comes the same day the Transportation Safety Board of Canada made public its recommendation that the city review the need for grade separation at three such crossings, including the site of a crash between a city bus and a Via Rail train in 2013.

The five rail crossings to be studied are located at:

• Woodroffe Avenue.
• The Transitway.
• Fallowfield Road.
• Merivale Road.
• Jockvale Road.

The cost of the technical studies will be shared with Via Rail, the city said in a news release.

'Circumstances have changed'

Around 2004 the city looked into grade separation at several level rail crossings, but high costs,geotechnicalissues and other factors led the city to decide against grade separation,said Kathy Fox, chair of the TSB, at a news conference announcing its final report and recommendations into the deadlycrash.

"The circumstances have changed since then," she said.

"The city is not under any obligation to respond to our recommendation, but they have been co-operative throughout the investigation and they have taken a number of steps to improve safety at those crossings and on theTransitway. So we fully expect that we will hear back from them."

Wednesday'sreport a 'catalyst'

Watson called the TSB's report a"catalyst" for the city to return to the question of whether at-grade rail crossings should be altered, and at what cost but added that Ottawa would likely need financial support from other levels of government to carry out meaningful changes.

The 2004 report pegged the cost of changes to theWoodroffe Avenue rail crossing at more than$100 million, said Watson, and if it were still that expensive today, the city wouldn't be able to do pay for thework by itself.

"Safety comes first, but at the same time, as the steward of taxpayers'money... we have to find a way to pay for these things," said Watson.

"I've said very clearly that we don't have the capacity to do it ourselves, as a city. We think there's a role for the federal government to play as well."

The city willprovide a more official response to the TSB's recommendation within 90 days, which will likely occur at a joint meeting of the city's transit commission and transportation committee before proceeding to full city council.

One of the TSB's other recommendations is for Transport Canada to provide specific guidance about when grade separations should be considered.

The city has already started building an underpass at the GreenbankRoad rail crossing a project that was in the works before the fatal 2013 crash that killed six people at a cost of $58 million.