County OKs Safety Changes to Main Street Crosswalks

Changes are coming to the crosswalk by the train station on Main Street in Ramsey, now that the county gave the official OK to add safety features to the area, Councilwoman Deirdre Dillon announced at a borough council meeting last week.

Last year, the council and Ramsey Police Department began working with the county on the project, which officials said is designed to help avoid pedestrian and vehicular accidents at the highly-trafficked spot.

Before specific design details could move forward, the town needed approval from the county, she said.

Police and borough officials are now working on a design for the area, Dillon said. The designs will be done, "in house," by the RPD and borough engineers, she said.

It will definitely include removing a crosswalk from the area that officials have said is too close to the train tracks. Removing the crosswalk would reduce the likelihood of cars having to stop close to or on the tracks in order to let passengers walk across, officials say.

When the project initially took shape, it also proposed prominent striping on the ground and bigger signs alerting drivers to stop before reaching the tracks.

Dillon said final design plans would be presented to the council before any are implemented.