Videos showing kids climbing over or crawling under stopped trains drew national attention to Hammond this past spring. Now, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg says the federal government is helping to eliminate these types of situations.
"It is completely unacceptable within the United States of America or anywhere else for that matter that kids would have to climb over or under a rail car in order to be able to get to school," Buttigieg told reporters during his visit to Gary on Wednesday.
Buttigieg said railroads have a responsibility to ensure safety, but the federal government is also doing its part by providing dedicated funding for crossing elimination for the first time in history.
U.S. Representative Frank Mrvan (D-Highland) said that helps Northwest Indiana's steel industry, as well as its safety. "So we're building bridges, as the secretary had mentioned, but we are also focusing on the communities and neighborhoods who are in need for quality of life and public safety," Mrvan said.
Meanwhile, in Hammond, resident Ken Rosek told the city council Monday that problems with parked trains have decreased significantly, since the national attention. "The fact of the matter is the trains have stopped parking in Hessville, O.K.? Ask anyone. Go out and observe it yourself. We have data. We have cams now recording the data. I haven't seen one in five months," Rosek told council members.
Rosek has long opposed a largely state-funded overpass, saying it would be too far away from schools to prevent kids from crawling under trains and would destroy acres of woods and sand dunes.
