Crossing arms are scheduled to be installed at the south Bossier City railroad crossing where a Parkway High School student was killed Thursday afternoon when he drove onto the tracks and into the path of a freight train.
Bossier City Mayor Lo Walker today said city engineers have been notified by the state highway department that it and and Kansas City Southern railroad intend to upgrade the railroad crossing warning system at Golden Meadows and Barksdale Boulevard.
The crossing, which is expected to be installed later this year, has been in the planning stages for several months and is not in response to Thursday's fatal crash, Walker said.
The city and many residents have been pushing the state and the railroad for years to install crossing arms at more railroad crossings, especially in south Bossier City. Crossing arms have been installed at crossings north of Golden Meadows.
Anthony Auzenne, 17, was killed when he drove his car into the path of a KCS train.
Police Department spokesman Mark Natale said the warning lights at the crossing were flashing when Auzenne pulled onto the tracks and was hit by the KCS train.
Natale said the engineer was sound the train's horn and the railroad crossing's signal lights and bells were operating when the collision happened.
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