Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1917 — FOOL PROOF CROSSINGS [ARTICLE]

FOOL PROOF CROSSINGS

All other plans having failed, steps have recently been taken to make all the grade crossings in Jackson county, Missouri, "fool proof”—that is, a plan has been adopted which will compel each vehicle to slow down on approaching a railroad track and so materially lessen the probability , of accident. The improvement, which will cost about S3OO per crossing, consists in widening the roadway at its intersection with a railway and placing a pile of stones, or fencing off a triangular plot in the center of each approach, thereby dividing the road into two parts, one for traffic going each way. Signs and white fences built close up to the path of travel call attention to the turns in the road. With this arrangement each vehicle must approach a crossing slowly in order to turn out of the straight course and to get back into it after passing over the tracks. In this way drivers are given time to look for approaching trains.