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Show I Saturday, February 17, 1996 3 Lakeside Review mi - STREET TALK... HH J)' V B What residents of Davis County think about the issues ill-- :n k 0CAKP r What about options for 200 South railroad crossing? There have been three fatalities and numerous accidents in the last five years at the railroad crossing on 200 South Street An overpass in the area comes with a price tag of $5 million. Although the state has set some money aside for improving that railroad crossing, the city and state don't have the money to put into the project. The Lakeside Review informally asked some Clearfield residents what can be done about the states second most dangerous railroad crossing. Dawn Evans Clearfield I havent thought too much about it, but its dangerous, it really is, they ought to do something about it Maybe there are projects the city could do to raise money for it, do you suppose? Don Doerr Clearfield Im r anti-ta- x of any kind. People should be careful. When you cross the railroad tracks you slow down and stop. We cant take care of every contingency. I think this is the problem with government in general right now. They dont want to make anybody responsible for themselves or for their actions. Big government's got to take care of all of the problems and Im not in favor of it" " . State, dty must take action now The long wail of a locomotive followed by emergency sirens has ! become the sure sound of tragedy ;in Clearfield at the 200 South rail ;road crossing. Somber green wreaths bring to I remembrance the last unfortunate ; incident, this time when a railway employee signalled an unsuspecting ' motorist to his death. And yet, the railroad cannot be blamed any more than the geographic morass of circumstances that make this crossing the most dangerous in the state, second to none for the carnage it . has created with broken lives and ; J lonely GUEST COLUMNIST Don M. Ormsby No one in Clearfield, whether living east or west of the railroad, can remain unaffected long as accidents pile up. Consider the tragedy of lonely families. Consider the horror felt by an engineer helplessly unable to stop thousands of tons of steel quick enough to avert disaster. An average train at working speeds approaching 60 mph can take more than a mile to stop long past the broken bodies and crumbled wreck- Clearfield resident and former city council member funding years into the future? And if in the future, at what further cost of lives which surely will be spent on the rails? . age. Answers as always come easily to families. No one entity, public or private, mind after the fact Years have is fully responsible for the contindrifted by as plans for an overpass uous threat to Clearfield's safety. ,have been bantered about, studied, The intersection of train, pedestrian debated and agonized Z and. motoring traffic is a result of over. From a viewpoint of building Z the growth and progress hoped for the overpass today, the only issue left is money. ago. j" years Plans have been drawn and deThe railroad brought develop- ment and a higher standard of liv- -I velopment has been directed to alnecessary. ing for all of us as years went by. low the right-of-wClearfield citizens have only two 5 Ironically, we grew too close to the options to consider before safety sword which, thundering even today, offers us goods, ser- - can be achieved. Do we bond now vices and jobs at 60 miles per and move decidedly to resolve the conflict, or wait and hope for state hour! The time has come for the state C of Utah to act decidedly to protect its citizens. While talk of alleviating congestion in the Salt Lake Valley has become nightly news, so also should be the restless cries of north Davis Cbunty citizens to solve this problem of repeated death by rail. We cannot pick up miles of trackage and move it out of the way of development. We will grow past ay wherever we move it. No, the tracks will remain, and we must build over them. Now. Mr. Governor and the Legisla two-edg- ture, come to Clearfield and act to is save life. Commute time on merely and inconvenience. Lives are being taken in Clearfield. dollars is the proverbial drop in the bucket in this day of budget surplus. What price tag should we place on the lives already sliced in two on the rails? Will the next victim be a physically challenged student walking across the tracks to the Pioneer Adult Rehabilitation Center, a motorist impatiently dodging the barriers after waiting 10 minutes for the signals to clear, or perhaps dozens of young people joyfully heading home in the big yellow school bus one foggy afternoon? If not the state of Utah, then Clearfield citizens must demand that bonding begin immediately and construction begin. Yes, taxes will go up for us if we do. But ask yourself this question. How much would you have given to save even one of the lives taken at 200 South? Or if the next innocent victim is one of your own family, what would you have spent to enjoy their loving company for years to come. IS Five-milli- Enoch Staton on Clearfield What about a bake sale? I have no idea, probably a bake sale or pass out a flyer to see who is interested in doing it. They could ask for a donation. They should be able to raise quite a bit of money. I probably would donate. Wanda Reese Clearfield Weve lived in Clearfield for 22 years now and we have seen a lot of accidents there and some deaths. 1 really believe they should make an effort to put an overpass there. Not only for the traffic but for the children and the kids going back and forth to school. Im not sure where they would get that extra money, but Im sure the people of Clearfield would be willing to donate to help put that in. If that's what it takes (raise in taxes) then I do. I really feel strongly that they should put an overpass there. We have a daughter-in-lahad a little friend killed on a railroad crossing a couple of years ago." w :letters Helen Jackson :GOP using bag of brainwashing tricks would like to relate in this let-I consider brainwashing ;LlaCIics used by the Republican Par- -' ty. They have a whole bag of such tricks that they have been using . over many years. Such as, the ! Democratic Party is for more taxes, ; more spending, and more govern-men- t. They seem to have a patent , Ob. tbese and they will use them forever. They know all too well that - most people arent in favor of any ; of them. Such accusations aren't true, but the Republican Party : doesn't care if its the truth or not ; Why' should they as it works for them, and besides telling the whole truth is not one of the Republican r Partys fortes. . ; flcre is one of their latest meth- ods of attack that they have been ' commonly using the past two years, ever since Newtie and my hero Rush have came on the scene. I ter what They try extra hard to convince the ' people that the media is out to get the Republican Party. They continually tell us that the liberal media is misleading the people. They are trying to make the common people believe that all of the media is liberal and that you cant believe anything that is printed or aired that is negative about the Republicans. But if it is a positive story that you should believe it wholeheartedly. They have been playing this l-biased media thing to the hilt to try and brainwash the people. Its beginning to get somewhat sickening hearing them cry about it all of the time. This is a cal ploy that is continually used by It the Republican and it is two-folis to make you believe that the media is against them and therefore you cant intimidate the media into reporting their deceptive practices without questioning them. In other words, abandon their reporter ethics and report what we say even if it the Republican Party continually uses on you. Look for the real and truthful content of the issues that always seem to be hidden behind their ploys and the arrogant rhetoric smoke screens. I personally believe that most Republicans would sell you a bill of dolgoods for your last lar and then tell you not to stick your hand out for a freebie from them. Rush Limbaugh is a good example. Then they would just love, to portrait you as a lazy that does nothing but stand around with your hand out for the freebies. Even though you may be working a hard job that virtually pays nothing because of them. Just take a good look at our minimum wage and what party is against raising it even the slightest amount. To me, our minimum wage is an embarrass- hard-earne- d libera- 1 d. ' Clearfield isnt the truth. Alt that I am trying to say in this letter is; beware and dont fall for all of the psychological ploys that I think that they should build an overpass or something to make it safer. How should they come up with the money? As Ive been reading stuff I think this is what they ought to do. They could close it off; it is I veiy unsafe. If it was me and was having to cross that street regularly, I wouldnt cross it anyway. I would go out and around. In all honesty it is very unsafe. I think they should close it. I think it should be a permanent solution. Is it really necessary? Im not one to travel it I wish I could give more of an answer. I think the railroad ought to help pay for it It is their responsibility too as far as Im concerned. It should be all three the railroad, the city and the state. Letters policy t: ;; The Lakeside Review eneoareges readers ro fcibmu letters to the editor. if Coarem of Idles should address issues of interest to out readership tbrooghout north ': Davis County. ' Letters should be typed, double-spaced- , and most include the name and telephone number of the wnfer for venScation purposes; Shorter letters ate more likely to be;-- , , -i f v' , :.f published. Letters will also be edited. If necessary, to meet journalistic standards of good taste. ' j; letters must be ) With few exceptions, accompanied by the writer's name when published. , Said aB letters to the Lakeside Review, 2146 N, Main, Layton, UT, 84041 s Walt Richards Clearfield They ought to do something about it They ought to put in an overpass, because there is a lot-1of traffic. There have been a lot of people injured and killed. I know they have thought of ' putting an overpass there. I hate to see them put another tax on us. I dont know what to think, but they surely ought to do something. They could close it down. Maybe they should build a road someplace else and close it off. They could reroute people from the Freeport Center down the other side, because they do have an overpass on the other end." ment to our country. Sincere as always, Dennis McClune Lavlon government ekrectory rI ,z - Fsdsral Oomrmwnt President Bill ClintonjD) The White House Washington, DC 20500 (Comment Office): Sen. Robert Bennett (R) SD431 Dirk sen Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510-440- 3 625-567-6 (Ogden office) I Sen. OrrinGL Hatch (R) 135 Russell Senate Ofc. Bldg. . DC 20510 Washington, "625-567- 2 (Ogden office) Jim Hansen (R) 2466 Rayburn House Ofc. Bldg. EZWashington, DC 20515 7 (Ogden office) ; -Rap. Bill Orton (D) 122 Longworth Bldg. Washington. DC 20515 ; ' r 025-567- : 379-250-0 (Provo office) Rep. Enid Greene Woldholtz(R) Box 11332 Salt Lake City, Utah 84147 4 (Salt Lake office) ' Dist. 20: Roy, Hooper, Farr West 5250 W. 4000 South Hooper, UT, 84315 328-199- H: Sen. David H. Steele (R) Dist 21: Davis 3376 W. 400 North West Point, UT 84015 State Executives Gov. Mike Leavitt (R) State Capitol Salt lake City, UT 84114 538-10(SIC) LL Gov. Olene Walker (R) State Capitol Salt Lake City, UT 84114 538-104- Atty. 0 H: 825-303- 3; O: 4 0:544-590- 9 (D) State Capitol Sait Lake City, UT 84114 5 (SLC) j , State Representative Rep. Nora Stephens (R) 538-101- Dist. 13: Weber-Dav2024 N. 400 West Sunset UT 84015 is State Senators jsen. Joseph 544-674- Sen. Craig L. Taylor (R) Dist. 22: Davis 312 Oak Lane Kaysville, UT 84037 (SLC) Jan Graham 731-37- Hull (D) r, Rep. Don Bush (R) Dist. 14: Clearfield Isabel Vigil 138 Locust Clearfield UT 84015 H: 825-321- Clearfield 0 Rep. Blake Chard (R) Dist. 15: Layton 1940 N. 350 West Layton UT 84041 4 H: rej Yj 773-747- that Rep. Kevin S. Gam (R) 1 dont really know without thinking about something like that The price of a person is priceless of course, something should be done. I think the city, state and railroad have some type of responsibility in that, absolutely. All of them should take some responsibility. I dont ever use that crossing. I dont generally go in that area. It wouldnt be a problem for me, (if they closed it) It might be a problem for someone, but it wouldnt be for me. Maybe thats the option, to close it Dist. 16: Layton 2206 Summerwood Drive Layton, UT 84075 H: .Rep. 544-35- Marda Dillree (R) jDist. 17: Farmington 379 Shepherd Ridge Road Farmington, UT 84025 H: 451-277- 3 Naturally with so many people being killed, youd think theyd need to take a better look at that and definitely look at repairing or doing something that would prevent these accidents. We are very versatile people. Im sure we could come up with something (to raise money), like doing cake walks or any type of stuff like ; a t |
