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City says fence along railroad tracks is safety necessity


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#1 CNJRoss

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Posted 30 July 2014 - 06:12 PM

C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville, VA, 7/30:

City says fence along Corner railroad tracks is safety necessity, but some are skeptical

It’s a humid July day, and UVA fourth-year Henry Ilnicky just wants a sandwich.

From where he’s standing on 15th Street, Ilnicky could walk under a train trestle and through a third of a mile of busy Corner streets to reach his destination: Take It Away on Elliewood Avenue. But he saves over three blocks by simply stepping over sagging, knee-high ropes before crossing the train tracks behind the Corner parking lot.

For decades, UVA students and others traversing the Corner on foot have used the shortcut so frequently that a footpath is worn into the dirt embankment abutting the tracks. In a 30-minute span early one afternoon during UVA’s summer session, 89 people were observed crossing the train tracks.

They were all breaking the law, because the shorter route requires trespassing on railroad company property, and the city—with the support of UVA and local railroad companies—has obtained federal authorization and funding to construct a fence to prevent walkers from taking the shortcut. . . .

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