Use of Rubber on Rail Tracks Studied

Responding to complaints that bumpy railroad crossings are damaging cars and injuring cyclists in the San Fernando Valley, City Councilman Hal Bernson on Wednesday asked city officials to study the purchase of rubber material to make all crossings safer in Los Angeles.

In a motion before the City Council, Bernson asked the city’s Department of Transportation to identify the number of railroad crossings that would be eligible for repairs and determine the cost-effectiveness of purchasing the rubber material to be installed within the railroad right-of-way.

“We’ve had more than a dozen recent complains from people, including people on their bicycles who get their tires caught in the tracks and have broken legs and arms,” said Francine Oschin, legislative deputy for Bernson. “And people with cars say the tracks are smashing up their cars.”

Don Rosenberg, who sits on the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, said the problem occurs for bicyclists when tires get stuck in decaying wooden planks between the tracks.

In the the Valley, Rosenberg said two of the most dangerous crossings are those at Tampa and White Oak avenues, where rotting tracks lie in disuse.

“For a car, it’s just a bump, but on a bike it can kill you,” said Rosenberg, 57, who lives in Porter Ranch. “Metrolink is fixing some of them, but they are not going fast enough.”

The council is expected to consider the motion next week. Oschin said several Ventura County cities use the material at rail crossings, including Oxnard and Moorpark.

“Whatever is good enough for Ventura County is good enough for the San Fernando Valley,” Ochin said. “There are a lot of tracks in the San Fernando Valley. If you live in the north San Fernando Valley, there is no way to avoid them.”