Panel on railroad crossing safety cancels meeting

Ben Smith, a Tennessee Department of Transportation official who has moderated meetings of the 17-member state Railroad Crossing Task Force, canceled the March 19 session.

The cancellation coincided with TDOT spokeswoman Kim Keelor saying the state agency was looking for a “complete outsider” to take the panel’s reins.

Smith said the cancellation would give members time to study results of their Feb. 20 meeting and to work among themselves toward reaching an agreement.

Keelor told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the panel, which includes representatives of railroads, local governments and state and federal agencies, as well as parents and safety advocates, would likely meet again in mid-April.

More than 90 people have died at Tennessee railroad crossings during the past decade, according to TDOT.

Community members on the panel have said a “logjam” could interfere with the effort to draft proposed legislation for the General Assembly. Those four members said TDOT’s demand that the group unanimously approve its recommendations allowed railroad representatives to veto changes that would cost their industry.

A railroad representative said those comments reflected a “cynical view of the consensus process.”

TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely said Friday that if the panel could not agree, he would accept majority and minority reports to draft legislation.

“It’s the way these processes work sometimes,” Nicely said. “But we want to have something that can actually pass.”

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On the Net:

Tennessee Department of Transportation: http://www.tdot.state.tn.us