Drivers raise concerns about Norwood Park intersection after woman killed in Metra train crash

Karen Jordan Image
Monday, January 13, 2025
Fatal Metra train crash raises concerns about NW Side intersection
Lorene Wilson was killed in the Norwood Park, Chicago Metra train crash Saturday at Nagle and Avondale, where another deadly crash happened in 2021.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There are questions about safety for drivers at an intersection where Metra tracks cross Nagle and Avondale on the Northwest Side.

It was the scene of a fatal crash Saturday and the same location of a fatal crash a few years ago.

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It was Saturday evening when a Union Pacific Northwest line train hit a car that was on the tracks.

It happened at the intersection of Nagle and Avondale near the Norwood Park Metra station.

Brandon Bruscato had been heading northbound on Nagle and stopped at a red light at the intersection when the warning lights flashed and crossing arms went down.

He says a driver heading east on Avondale had a green light and made a left turn.

"The victim made a left directly onto the train tracks," said witness Brandon Bruscato. "I saw her put on her reverse lights and the train hit her two seconds later."

The force of the impact pushed the vehicle more than 100 yards down the tracks.

Lorene Wilson, a 69-year-old Chicagoan, was killed.

Bruscato questions the safety of the intersection, saying it is the same location where an Uber collided with a Metra train in 2021, killing the driver and seriously injuring the passenger.

Metra says it is investigating the incident.

"There's something about the design of the lights and the crossing and the way that it's all tied together," Bruscato said.

An investigation into the exact circumstances of the crash remains underway.

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