Last Level Crossing on Highway 16 to be Changed
Prince George, B.C.- Anyone who has driven Highway 16 west to Prince Rupert knows of that one rail crossing, where traffic is brought to a halt while a CN train rumbles across.
It’s located about 28 miles west of Terrace, and with CN hauling containers to and from the Prince Rupert Port, the trains can be very long.
That means lots of waiting for traffic , especially during the summer when tourists hauling boats, campers, or in rented motorhomes, are making the trek east or west.
It is the last level crossing on highway 16, with highway drivers warned of its presence ( and the need to slow down) by rumble strips in the lanes approaching the tracks from east or west.
Next week, the Provincial Ministry of Transportation will be holding two information sessions where preliminary plans to change that crossing will be unveiled.
The project will see two kms of the highway realigned, the replacement of the current level rail crossing with a bridge overpass. The project also calls for wider shoulders for the roadway to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
The price tag for the project is estimated to be $37 million dollars. The project is being funded by both the Provincial and federal Governments and is expected to go to tender this fall.
The first information session is set for Tuesday the 19th in Prince Rupert at the North Coast Meeting and Convention Centre, then on Wednesday the 20th, an information session for Terrace a the Best Western.
Both sessions are set to start at 4 and run till 7pm.
Comments
Excellent, is it the last level crossing in BC with highway 16. Or is it all the way to Winnipeg?
When it is done, all drivers will have to worry about then is one of CN’s mechanically deteriorating trains derailing on the bridge and landing on top of them.
Chances of that happening Haha is about one in 10 Million.
More like a hundred gazillion. The bridge is for traffic over the tracks not under the tracks.
Yeah but when the train derails and an LPG car explodes the plume will engulf the vehicles above…
I bet there were people in Lac Megantic who thought the way you do. Then a pile of fat sausages came along and proved that odds become meaningless when that 1 in 10000000 chance actually occurs.
Anyway, I guess I made a mistake in a assuming the highway would pass under the railed like it does at numerous points on Highway 97 and at one point on Foothill Blvd. Not that it matters if a derailment happens above or below that point on the highway. The results can still be catastrophic. Of course, the same applies to the level crossing as well.
Can’t believe anyone would think that the trains are going to use a bridge over the existing highway! OMG!
Trains go over the highway on Highway 16 at a couple of locations.
Last time I looked the rail line runs over top of Foothill Blvd.
I can’t believe there are actually people who think that trains don’t pass over highways on elevated bridges every day. There are several points on Highway 97 North and South where trains pass over the highway. Try getting out more.
In this case, I assumed that they were going to have the highway pass under the railed just like it does on Foothill, since
it makes more sense to go under due to the height of loaded double stack container cars.
I thought there was one on the way to McBride?
Why must us taxpayers have to pay for this ? Shouldn’t CN rail be paying for it as the rail crosses the highway. Just more corporate well fare really.
Well, no!
Does the rail cross the highway or does the highway cross the rail? CN is probably OK with the current arrangement as the trains keep moving . It’s the vehicles that stop.
I think the over pass will be for vehicles, not trains.
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