Red Willow County commissioners will forward the results of a railroad crossing traffic count to the Nebraska Department of Roads, as they investigate the possibility of installing automatic gates at a rural crossing between McCook and Indianola, the site of a fatality accident Feb. 19.

Gary Dicenta, the county's roads supervisor, told commissioners during their weekly meeting Monday that the traffic counter is triggered by each axle over the cord, and the state has a formula to estimate the number of two-axle (cars and pickups) and multi-axle (trucks and trailers) vehicles to come up with an ADT (average daily traffic) number.

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During three days at the crossing, on the county road southeast of the Southwest High School, a total of 682 axles crossed the traffic counter.

The maximum number of axles across the counter in one hour was 30, between noon and 1 p.m.; the least was 0, each hour between about midnight and 6 a.m.

Commission Chairman Earl McNutt said that 90 vehicles a day is "fairly close" as an estimate of "ADT."

Dicenta said that, along with the traffic count, a report from Southwest High School will be forwarded to the road department's Rail and Public Transportation engineer Ellis Tompkins. Matt Springer, the school's principal and transportation director, said in a letter to Tompkins that district buses use the crossing at least six to eight times a weekday. Each bus averages 16 students, Springer wrote, who pointed out, too, that school students also drive their personal vehicles across the crossing each day.

Springer wrote that the incline up to the tracks is a concern, as he has witnessed other vehicles and his own bus having trouble getting up the incline after stopping to watch for trains. Snow-pack on the incline is also a concern, Springer wrote.

Dicenta said that Tompkins will arrange an on-site inspection with Department of Roads staff, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad personnel, Dicenta and commissioners, before decisions regarding possible changes at the crossing are made.