Western Springs stars in train safety video

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A lighted sign warns Western Springs pedestrians to obey crossing gates, because trains may be coming from both directions. | Jane Michaels~Sun-Times Media

Watch the Western Springs train safety video

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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:16AM

“Contagion” isn’t the only film putting Western Springs in the spotlight. A newly released DVD on train safety featuring the village is getting good reviews and will soon play to a much wider audience.

“We’re very pleased with how it turned out,” said Deputy Police Chief Brian Budds. “The old video was well produced, but it was dated, and we wanted to update it.”

Tom Miller, Metra spokesman, said the commuter rail agency plans to release more than 1,400 copies of the educational DVD to schools throughout the six-county metropolitan area.

“We want to have teachers include the public service announcement as part of classroom curriculum on railroad safety,” Miller said.

Budds said the village also has received positive response from Comcast, which expressed interest in airing the program of nearly six minutes on other area local cable access channels.

“We’ve also had a couple of inquiries from private corporations, who want to use it to train their people,” he said.

The DVD was funded through part of a $7,277 grant from the Illinois Commerce Commission and Federal Railroad Administration. The remainder of the grant financed four safety enforcement campaigns, where extra manpower is needed to educate pedestrians and motorists and ticket violators.

Footage featuring Chief Pamela Church and area transportation officials was shot during one of the enforcement efforts in May at the Western Springs depot and along downtown intersections.

Crime prevention officer Danielle Stevens served as producer on the project and coordinated efforts with transportation officials and a crew from Lyons Township High School’s LTTV studio, which shot and edited the video.

“The LT students involved have a state of the art facility and one of the best high school departments,” Budds said. “They have a top notch production department; the quality is just excellent.”

Advances in technology since the village’s first train safety video was made help to get the safety message out, the deputy chief said.

“We now have media outlets we never had years ago with You Tube and Facebook and cable that we have to take advantage of,” he said.

It may seem like common sense to steer clear of downed crossing gates and yellow warning lines on the station platform, but commuters and residents need reminders, Budds said.

“We are noticing a new pattern, seeing more pedestrians going around the gates,” he said. “When vehicles are in violation, it’s because the gates are coming down while the car is crossing the tracks. We don’t see the cars going around gates as often.

“If a pedestrian is struck by a train, there’s very little chance of survival.”

Gate violators face fines of $250 if convicted. Although the village doesn’t expect to receive a grant this year, police intend to conduct several safety and enforcement campaigns, Budds said.

When asked why Western Springs took on the video project as a small community compared to some other towns along commuter rail lines, Budds said local officials consider train safety a top priority.

“The Burlington Northern is a very busy and a much-used transportation line,” he said. “We feel that it’s important to provide this training for the entire village and to educate our residents. It’s an effort that’s needed, and we have great relations with Metra and Burlington Northern. It made sense for Western Springs to do this.”

The DVD features interviews with Alex Clifford, Metra chief executive officer; Tom Donegan, Metra manager of emergency preparedness; Hilary Konczal, Metra director of safety; and Bob Meyer, Federal Railroad Administration crossing and trespass manager.

There’s also brief but heart-stopping footage shot elsewhere of a man jumping a fence and running across tracks, who narrowly escapes being hit by a speeding train. The video advises viewers it takes roughly two football fields for a train to stop.

Resident Amy Avakian, her neighbor Lee Rosenberg, and five children from the two families make cameo appearances in the video, wearing helmets and walking bikes through the village’s pedestrian underpass, as well as over a grade-level crossing.

“It’s a great educational effort and great for our town since so many people cross the tracks so many times a day,” Avakian said. “The kids thought it was pretty neat to see themselves in a movie.”

Avakian, who runs the Safety Village program with Rosenberg, said they intend to show the DVD in summer sessions of the program for children.

“The more people that see the safety video, the better,” she said.