Eight months after Alyssa Thompson was killed in a collision at a Churchbridge train crossing, her husband Matthew says he can no longer stay in the community. He describes the constant sound of trains as a painful reminder of the morning she died just one month after their wedding. “It’s traumatizing to sleep here,” Thompson said in late August. ”You hear the trains going past, and it’s just ... it’s not the same.” The crossing where Alyssa was killed is the same location where a father, David Holstein, died only a few years earlier. Following the death of his wife, Thompson started an online petition to push for safety upgrades to the Lovel Street crossing. The Town of Churchbridge told CTV News that the upgrades are estimated to cost half a million dollars. Thompson says some residents have approached him with concerns about how much the town of roughly 800 might spend on the project. “I get some negative reactions,” Thompson said. “People saying it’s not the taxpayer’s burden or speculating on what may or may not have happened at the stop sign.” In order to realize the upgrades without straining its limited budget, the town has applied for both provincial and federal grant funding. Thompson says the lack of updates and communication from the town has left him frustrated. “It’s upsetting,” he said. “There were promises made and timelines promised. And then when I checked back and reached out, nobody said anything to me.” Churchbridge was conditionally approved for a community grant by SGI and is awaiting results for Transport Canada’s Rail Safety Improvement Program (RSIP). “If they get that, coupled with the SGI safety grant, it would significantly reduce the overall cost for the town,” said Warren Kaeding, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Trade and Export Development and the town’s MLA. While the province has made it clear that rail crossing upgrades are a municipal responsibility, Kaeding says he hopes the project moves forward. “We’ve had fatalities and major incidents there,” he said. “We have to do what we can to prevent any more from happening, because tragedies like that stay with families forever.” When asked whether Churchbridge would still commit to the upgrades if grant funding falls through, as well as how much the town would pay if both grants are approved — the town said those answers will have to be discussed by council once Transport Canada responds to the application. CTV News reached out to Churchbridge’s mayor Jared Melnyk, who declined to comment.
