Idaho Transportation Department, Union Pacific to meet with county commissioners

The Idaho Transportation Department and Union Pacific Railroad have called a meeting with Washington County Commissioners on Sept. 23 at 9 a.m. The meeting is scheduled to take place in the Commissioners’ chambers at the county courthouse, located at 256 E. Court St. in Weiser.
 Although the public is welcome to attend, there will be no public comment.
 Those wishing to make comments can send a letter to Washington County Commissioners at P.O. Box 670, Weiser, ID 83672, or email Washington County Road and Bridge Supervisor Jerod Odoms at jodoms@co.washington.id.us.
 The meeting follows a one-vehicle fatality crash that occurred Monday, Aug. 8 at the railroad crossing on Riverdock Road and Highway 95, just southeast of Weiser. The driver failed to yield to an oncoming northbound train.
 “We did not call for the meeting, they called for the meeting,” Commission Chairman Nate Marvin told the Weiser Signal American.
 Marvin confirmed that the meeting is taking place as a result of the Aug. 8 crash at Riverdock Road, a railroad crossing that has been the site of other train v. vehicle crashes in the past.
 “I don’t know the history, but they’ve tried to close that crossing in the past,” he said. “The biggest problem is that there are no lights or cross arms, and the second is that there is no stacking room there for cars.”
 Marvin confirmed that stop signs at area railroad crossings were taken down some years ago and replaced with yield signs, but that the county had nothing to do with the decision.