SANTA PAULA : Council Seeks Work on Train Crossings

Santa Paula will send a second plea for help to have its degenerating railroad crossings improved, the City Council decided Tuesday.

Mayor Kay Wilson will send letters to Southern Pacific railroad and the California Public Utilities Commission asking that repairs be made on 14 of the city’s 15 crossings.

Twelve of those crossings were found to present a danger of causing pedestrians to trip, including one crossing whose inner rail protrudes two inches above the track. Other hazards include potholes and rotten planking, Wilson said.

The council had written to Southern Pacific in June, 1989, offering to purchase rubber crossing materials to upgrade several of the trouble spots, but the company replied it did not have the manpower to do the work.

Nothing further has been heard from the railroad, Norman Wilkinson, director of public works for Santa Paula, said.

Mick Digiacomo, company projects manager for Southern Pacific, said the railroad could not install the rubber crossings at that time because Santa Paula was not on the company’s yearly track revamping schedule.

Since then, however, Digiacomo said, the company had undergone significant internal changes which will allow it to respond to the city’s needs. “Santa Paula can get a better deal now. At the very least, we can patch” the problem areas, Digiacomo said.