19-year-old driver sustains serious injuries
It is with great sadness that we confirm that there was a fatal collision between a vehicle and a freight train on East Cypress Road near Main Street shortly before 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.
A vehicle driven by a 19-year-old woman was travelling westbound on East Cypress Road at the railroad crossing when the back portion of the sedan was struck by a train. A 12-year-old male passenger in the car was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for treatment of serious injuries.
The deceased boy was a student at Delta Vista Middle School and we extend our condolences to the entire school community. Oakley Union Elementary School District Superintendent Jeff Palmquist has confirmed that their crisis management team and counselors will be on campus to provide support to students and staff.
An additional vehicle in the area was struck by the car secondarily and the passengers in that car were not injured.
At this time, it appears all signals in the area were operating correctly. The initial investigation is being handled by the Oakley Police Department in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration.
There have been questions from the public regarding the flow of traffic in this area during peak traffic times. Per traffic studies, road striping changes have been implemented at East Cypress Road and Main Street that sought to alleviate congestion by providing double left turn lanes from westbound East Cypress to southbound Main Street.
To complement that striping and signage, the traffic signal timing has been adjusted at the intersection to expedite the flow of traffic out of East Cypress Road onto Main Street in all directions and give priority to the westbound traffic of this intersection during peak hours.
Oakley Police continue to ask people to avoid the area of Main Street and East Cypress Road this afternoon and into the evening. For access towards Bethel Island, use alternate routes to northbound Sellers Road to eastbound Cypress Road.
Once the lanes of traffic along East Cypress Road have reopened, residents will be alerted via a Nixle alert. To sign up for Nixle alerts text our zip code “94561” to 888777. You can also register through their website at www.nixle.com.
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