ELWOOD, Ill. (CBS) – Officials in southwest suburban Elwood have released police dashboard camera video of a semi-trailer truck going through a railroad crossing gate, to illustrate the village’s point that trucks are creating dangerous conditions as it fights a lawsuit by an intermodal facility.
WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports the video shows the semi stopped at the intersection of Walter Strawn Drive and Route 53, blocking the railroad tracks that run parallel to Route 43, as an Amtrak train approaches the crossing.
The driver is left with no choice but to continue, and one of the crossing gates breaks off after coming down on the trailer.
“Unfortunately, highly dangerous, life-threatening close calls have become business as usual,” Village President William Offerman said in a written statement.
Offerman said heavy truck traffic has increased to more than 8,000 trucks each day, and last year there were more than 50 incidents of trucks breaking through the gates.
The village has been sued by the owner of a local intermodal facility, operated by Centerpoint Properties, over new restrictions that divert trucks off certain streets, in favor of an interchange at Interstate 55 and Arsenal Road.
