On March 10, around 3:30 in the afternoon, Silvano Garcia was hit and killed by a train in the town of Ulster. According to a GoFundMe fundraising page started by his sister-in-law, Rhonda Garcia, “Silvano was a great guy who biked everywhere in Kingston and would always be there to help when you needed him. He was a hard worker and spent what little free time he had with us, his family here. He had a huge heart.” My condolences go out to his family. Silvano worked a minimum wage job and still managed to send back money to help his family in Mexico. The account was set up in order to raise funds to return his body to his home state of Mexico, where many of his friends and family reside.
This crash coincided with the fervor over the East Palestine Ohio derailment fiasco. It was also the third train crash in the area in the last four months.
The towns along the freight route endure all the negatives of train traffic - deadly crashes, noise, and stalled traffic - without the positives - like passenger rail.
The area where Silvano was hit, by Winsupply on Morton Blvd, is near two designated options for crossing the tracks. One is to use the overpass on Ulster Ave, which has sidewalks. The other is to walk down Morton Blvd and cross at Boices Lane. This area technically has some sidewalks, but… frankly it’s not clear whether the road designers believe pedestrians actually exist.
The intersection (located where Morton Boulevard, Boices Lane, and John M Clark Road meet near Panera Bread) was already on my radar, as it a destination for a recent walk taken by Riders of Ulster Transit Alliance (RUTA), and was requested by a RUTA member due to its lack of safe and accessible street design.
I revisited the intersection after hearing the news about Silvano. This area is a poster child for the wild discrepancies in how space is afforded to cars vs pedestrains, and resulting sacrifice of safety for pedestrians.
Here’s the space allotted to pedestrians when crossing the train tracks. Astounding.
There’s barely a shoulder. I’m guessing it’s not wheelchair accessible.
Here’s the space allotted to cars turning out of John M Clark Road onto Boices Lane.
I’m not even detailing half of the really weird and hostile street design elements in the area. Go check it out for yourself! Walk around and observe the area without a car. If you never have, it will likely be an eye opening experience.
Silvano was taking a risk by using a shortcut to traverse his route - the same kind of calculated risk that people use all the time when navigating streets that are actively hostile in their design.
By designing only for cars, despite the presence of humans who walk, the designers of the streets in Ulster have taken an egregious risk with the lives of people who walk in the town of Ulster. It ultimately decreases the quality of life for all who live within walking distance.
Hopefully this area and others nearby will be made much more pedestrian and bike friendly with the redesign of the 9W corridor now in progress. Subscribe to the UCTC mailing list here. Public input is supposed to be happening soon, I’ll send more information when I have it.
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