Last week, my colleague, columnist Bob Baird, was writing about the holes in the fence meant to protect people from the temptation of taking a shortcut along the NJ Transit tracks near Lawrence Street in the Clarkstown-Spring Valley area. (Here’s the column.) He has long advocated for safety measures there, writing many columns over the years about people killed traversing the tracks to get to Route 59 directly, instead of taking a mile-long walkaround. NJ Transit put up fencing several years ago and Clarkstown has been working on installing sidewalks in the area. The fences, though, regularly sprout holes at the bottom where people can scoot underneath. Last week, Bob went out to visit the Lawrence Street area. He came back and began to write. He would look over and explain to me how the holes kept cropping up, and how frustrating it was to see people dip down under to walk across. He’s done a great job of keeping track of the Lawrence Street danger, advocating for safety measures to be taken in the area, and warning people that it’s a deceivingly dangerous path.

Well, today we find out that his call for safety measures, like those after the 11th person was hit in 2001, have gotten attention. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, has contacted NJ Transit, and wants them to fix the fence and put up signage to make clear the danger. Khurram Saeed writes about it in his Going Places blog. You may recall that Schumer put the pressure on NJ Transit in 2003 to get the fencing installed in the first place.

There’s plenty of pedestrian traffic in the working class area, and the tracks divide shopping and residential areas, adding long treks for those who want to run some quick errands. The temptation to cut the tracks has been documented since 1985, when a 15-year-old was killed crossing the tracks on the way to apply for a job at McDonald’s. Since commuter trains don’t run much midday, some don’t realize the tracks are in fact frequently used by trains. Plus, because of the Doppler effect, the train noise may not sound like it’s coming so close, and someone near the tracks may not notice it until it’s too late.