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mokenamessenger.com sound off
the Mokena Messenger | February 7, 2019 | 13
Social snapshot
Top Web Stories
From MokenaMessenger.com as of
Monday, Feb. 4
1. Severe weather forces area closures,
cancellations
2. Matt’s Old Mokena: 191st Street
crossing has long history of accidents
3. More vehicle break-ins, thefts
4. Resale for Rescues grows in first 6
months
5. ‘This is a perception issue’: Metra CEO
says crossings working properly
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“In Mokena in the 1960s, what games do
you remember playing in the back yards?”
Brian Ross Bennett posted this to You
Know You Are From Mokena, IL, If...’s
Facebook page Thursday, Jan. 31.
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mokenamessenger.com
“STATE CHAMPS!!!! It takes great girls,
great coaches...and a great community!”
@LWEastAthletics posted this to its Twitter
account Saturday, Feb. 2.
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From the Assistant Editor
Safety first: Metra needs to get back on track
Megan Schuller
m.schuller@22ndcm.com
Metra, they say, is
the way to really
fly.
Every day I used to
board in Joliet and rode
straight to LaSalle Street
Station. I once relied on
the Rock Island Metra to
get me to Chicago, just
like so many others in the
suburbs. I never gave much
thought at that time to rail
safety or the train operations
that got me to where
I needed to go. It got me to
and from college, and that
was the last I thought of it
— until recently.
I used to pass by the
191st Street crossing in
Mokena, but it was always
a blurred memory to me,
as I watched it briefly pass
through the tinted window.
That same crossing has
now become a hot-button
issue for area travelers
thanks to dash cam footage
captured in November of a
near collision of a Mokena
police officer and a Metra
train.
That footage brought
up a memory for me that
I don’t often speak about.
After watching the train
and dash cam footage I
couldn’t help but think that
had the timing not been in
favor of those motorists
and the police officer that
day, an outcome similar to
the one I witnessed could
have transpired.
On one commute home
I witnessed the horrific aftermath
as my train slowly
passed the scene after
someone was hit. I’ll spare
the details, suffice to say
it’s an image that remains
burned in my memory
to this day. I never did
find out more about that
tragic incident, but I hope I
never see anything like that
again. That’s why these
recent Metra incidents
strike a chord and deeply
concern me.
Had those vehicles on
Nov. 9 passed through the
crossing a few seconds
later, they too could have
been struck and potentially
killed. In driver’s education
we are conditioned
to look for and trust the
crossing arm and lights. A
malfunction of that magnitude
not being reported by
the first train that encountered
it endangered all who
crossed the intersection
that morning.
Equally as troubling are
Metra’s continued “reassurances”
that the gates are
functioning correctly when
multiple residents report
that they are not. Perhaps
there is some truth to
Metra’s claims; however,
when pressed for proof of
those claims via internal
investigation documents,
Metra has so far been unwilling
to provide it.
And here’s the thing:
Only after all local major
media outlets posted the
dash cam video from November
was Metra willing
to send out press releases
with links to videos from
Nov. 9 of all the affected
trains but one.
Shouldn’t we expect
— and, more so, deserve
— Metra to be transparent
in all instances relating to
public safety, not just the
ones it cherry picks for the
public? Our newspapers
are an outlet for community
news, not corporate
public relations attempting
to push damage control on
the public.
A Metra spokesperson
I initially reached wasn’t
interested in providing the
level of details I was seeking,
and hung up the phone
before I was done asking
my questions. I disagreed
with her that details were
not important. It’s my
duty as a journalist to care
about reporting the facts,
especially when those facts
could help save the lives of
residents across the southwest
suburbs.
Metra officials have
scheduled several public
meetings to address the
community concern and
rail safety in the area. One
has already been held at
the Jan. 28 Mokena Board
of Trustees meeting.
A Public Safety Town
Hall Meeting is scheduled
for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday,
Feb. 12, at Lincoln-Way
East High School. And
a safety presentation by
Operation Lifesaver — a
national nonprofit group
that provides railway
safety education to the
public— is scheduled for
7 p.m. on Wednesday,
Feb. 13, in the Community
Room at the New Lenox
Village Hall. (The event is
hosted by the New Lenox
Safe Communities America
Coalition and the Village
of New Lenox. The town’s
mayor, Tim Baldermann,
also serves as a member of
Metra’s Board of Directors.)
While these incidents
since November raise
questions of Metra’s
operations and transparency,
there is some truth in
Metra’s Operation Lifesaver
slogan: “Look, listen,
live.” I’d like to add to that
the advice we often use in
the journalism business:
“Trust but verify.”
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