Crews are set to begin installation of pedestrian gates next month at a railroad crossing in Barrington near where a 17-year-old girl was killed by a train while walking to Barrington High School.
The Canadian National Railway (CN) announced last year that it was going to install pedestrian gates at the Main Street crossing just east of Barrington High School in Barrington.
Construction was delayed due to material backorders but the necessary materials were expected to arrive early this year.
The Village of Barrington recently said that they received preliminary confirmation that most of the construction will take place between March 21 and March 30, coinciding with District 220’s spring break.
The timing is intended to minimize traffic disruptions. CN will provide more details and confirm the schedule as it gets closer to construction.
The village said it is also reviewing statements of qualifications from engineering firms for the preliminary design of a pedestrian underpass at Main Street and the CN tracks.
“This work is particularly important as it connects the Village Center and Barrington High School, and is a crossing used daily by many students,” the village said.
The new safety measures come in the wake of the death of Marin Lacson, 17, of Barrington.
The family of Lacson filed a lawsuit against the railroad and village, saying that the child’s death was “entirely preventable.”
Lacson was killed by a train while walking to Barrington High School and crossing the Union Pacific Railroad train tracks in the area of Main Street and Hough Street, which is a half-mile east of the school, at about 7:45 a.m. on January 25, 2024.
The family is represented in court by Chicago-based law firm Clifford Law Offices, who filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of the family.
The suit names Union Pacific Railroad Company, Metra Railroad, and the Village of Barrington as defendants.
Lacson was attempting to walk across the railroad crossing when she was struck by a Metra train.
Kyle Kinnamon told Lake and McHenry County Scanner he was the one who called 911 to report the collision between Lacson and the train.
“This was a devastating accident that happened right in front of me on Route 59 before I got to the light at Main Street,” Kinnamon said, adding that the incident was not a suicide.
Kinnamon, who works at an office two blocks away from the Barrington train crossing, said he watched the “life leave this poor girl’s eyes” as he was on the phone with 911.
“She was walking south and the westbound train had just gone through and she must have assumed that was the only one coming because she didn’t stop at the sidewalk, and as soon as she passed the gate the eastbound train came out of the fog and hit her,” Kinnamon said.
“It was all over in seconds,” he added. A dense fog advisory was in effect at the time of the incident.
Officers and paramedics arrived and confirmed Lacson was dead at the scene, officials said. No one else was injured.
The 34-page lawsuit alleges negligence against the defendants for failure to adequately warn and protect pedestrians at the Hough Street railroad crossing in Barrington, despite at least two prior occasions where trains struck pedestrians.
Attorneys say no engineering study was performed after the prior pedestrian casualties to assess the risk of train collisions with pedestrians at the crossing and no action has ever been taken to improve pedestrian safety at the crossing.
The crossing is also located in a “quiet zone,” meaning that train horns are not to be sounded except at the train operator’s discretion.
“Marin’s death was entirely preventable. Marin merely attempted to cross over the sidewalk on her way to school after the first train passed through the crossing. Without any warnings to alert her that an inbound train was coming from the opposite direction and without notice that this inbound track was what is sometimes called a ‘hot rail,’ Marin was unaware there was a second train approaching,” attorney James Pullos said.
“Instead of showing urgency for the community safety, no action was ever taken to address the long-standing safety concerns at this crossing,” Pullos said.
Mike Lacson, the girl’s father, said his daughter’s death was preventable and the crossing lacked pedestrian gates and other pedestrian safety warnings that would have saved his daughter.
“As we learn more details about Marin’s death, we are truly shocked and saddened by the lack of action by those responsible for the safety of our community. It is utterly distressing that basic safety measures were ignored for years and continue to be ignored. It is even more troubling to learn that no agency or company ever performed any pedestrian safety studies for this crossing,” Mike Lacson said.
The father said his daughter’s death “will not be in vain” as the family is committed to making a difference to prevent this type of accident from occurring again.
Barrington School District 220 Superintendent Dr. Craig Winkelman said that Lacson was a junior at Barrington High School and in the Chinese Immersion Program.
Marin, who was also on the lacrosse team at the high school, previously attended Countryside Elementary School and Station Middle School.
Barbara Floyd, a close friend and one of Lacson’s favorite teachers, described the girl as a “vibrant, bubbly, vivacious soul” that was full of life and love.
“Her light shines so brightly. She is strong, intelligent, fun-loving, loyal, generous and so much more. Her compassion and empathy for others is evident in every act of kindness she has shared,” Floyd said.