DuPage County officials on Tuesday agreed to begin work on a $15.6million highway underpass they say is needed to end safety problemsand traffic congestion at a busy rail crossing in Wheaton.
About 30,000 cars and trucks cross the Union Pacific RR tracksevery day at County Farm Road, and 120 trains cross the four-lanehighway daily.
The project would route cars under the crossing, eliminatingsafety problems that have contributed to 24 accidents in the lastnine years, board members said.
While most of the accidents have involved crashes with othervehicles or crossing gates rather than trains, board members said thecrossing remains a trouble spot.
"We shouldn't wait until we have a tragedy," said board memberWilliam Maio.
The board agreed unanimously to begin acquiring land for theproject, which is expected to require buying or condemning nine homeson County Farm Road just north of the tracks. The project could takefour years to complete.
State grants could pay for as much as 60 percent of the work,officials said.
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