Committed to creating a culture of safety at Holland, we are proud to announce our latest project with the Village of Crete, IL to promote rail safety throughout our community. Painted sidewalk signs at high pedestrian traffic points now offer a permanent warning to community members who are crossing the railroad tracks by foot.

According to FRA Statistics, there were 1,050 pedestrian rail trespass casualties in 2018, and Illinois is ranked fifth with 44 last year alone. The goal of these sidewalk signs is to urge the community to cross the railroad tracks only where it is marked at a crossing and to “Stop, Look, and Listen” before crossing the tracks.

“We are living in a world with distractions. Anything we can do to limit these distractions, especially around these railroad crossings is so important”, said Mayor Einhorn for the Village of Crete. He continued saying, “People tend to ignore things right in front of them and pedestrians are not immune to this. These signs will act as a reminder for pedestrians to cross across the tracks as safely as possible”.

Holland’s President, Jordan Wolf, spoke on the importance of these signs saying, “Crete is our home town and here at Holland safety is our number one priority. With our Headquarters so close to a few of these railroad crossings, I can see the volume of trains that go right through Crete”. He continued, adding, “Being aware of those trains and the surrounding infrastructure is the first step to staying safe. We believe the sidewalk safety signs will help bring awareness to our neighbors”.

Holland, as well as the Crete Park District, will be holding a “Rail Safety Day” event on Friday, July 12th from 1-3 PM to promote rail safety throughout the community. During this event, we will be dedicating the sidewalk signs to the Village of Crete at 2 PM with Mayor Einhorn.