A woman was hit by a train when she attempted to cross the set of tracks that runs through a southeast Edmonton neighbourhood Tuesday morning.
Edmonton police said the collision happened just before 7:30 a.m. on the CN railway tracks at Maple Road near 8 Street.
The 34-year-old woman was walking west on the sidewalk on the north side of the road when she attempted to run across the tracks, police said, adding she was subsequently struck by the front of a northbound train.
The woman was treated and taken to hospital by paramedics with serious injuries.
The Edmonton Police Service major collision investigation unit was called to the scene, where the train sat at a standstill on the tracks, blocking the road in and out of the Maple Crest neighbourhood for a few hours.
The train was later moved up and down the tracks, allowing blocked traffic to flow in and out of the area.
Maple Crest access concerns
For years, a lack of emergency access has frustrated residents of the neighbourhood.
It sits on a pie-shaped sliver of land in southeast Edmonton, flanked by Whitemud Drive to the north and Anthony Henday Drive to the east and south.
The nearest major road to the west is 17 Street, but getting to it requires crossing CN Rail tracks.
Several times in recent years, residents have spotted ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles stuck at the train, unable to access the neighbourhood.
There is an unpaved secondary access road to the south of the neighbourhood, which connects to Meridian Street and on to 23 Avenue — however, it’s long and winding, and also crosses the same train tracks about two kilometres to the south.
When asked in January 2020, the company behind the Maple Crest development said it’s aware of the complaints.
Dream Development Edmonton said it plans to add a new connection to 23 Avenue when the community grows – saying at that time it would be within the next three years.
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