Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Freight Train Hits Street Sweeper in Wayzata

Driver for Carefree Services leaped from the sweeper before train hit and his injuries were minor. The street sweeper's brushes may have gotten hung up on the tracks.

Updated below. See photos and tweets from the Star Tribune, WCCO and Fox 9 about a train vs. street sweeper crash in Wayzata Wednesday morning in the Storify above or at Storify.com.

According to WCCO-AM, the crash happened at about 6:15 a.m. and injuries are "not serious."

Fox 9 tweeted:

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According to Wayzata PD, sweeper brushes got stuck on track. The gates came down while trying to raise the brushes. Driver has minor inj.

Update (9 a.m. Wednesday): BNSF Railways spokesperson Amy McBeth said by email:

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At about 6:30 this morning, a train collided with a street sweeper at Barry Avenue in Wayzata. The crossing is protected with gates and lights. The incident is under investigation at this point.

The train was eastbound, heading to Minneapolis, hauling freight of all kinds.

WCCO-AM reported at 9:08 a.m. that the intersections are still closed and crews that responded to the crash remain on the scene but hope to clear the area "within the hour."

Update (9:15 a.m. Wednesday): City of Wayzata spokesperson Samantha Grosz emailed this update:

According to Wayzata Police Chief Mike Risvold, the sweeper, from Carefree Services a company based in Maple Plain, was trying to cross the tracks when the brushes of the sweeper got caught. The gate started coming down to signal the train was approaching. The driver was able to jump out of the sweeper before the train hit. The driver walked away with only minor injuries.

Update (9:50 a.m. Wednesday): WCCO reports on Twitter that the scene is now clear and intersections are open again.

Update (12:30 p.m. Wednesday): Wayzata Police Chief Michael J. Risvold gave this account of the incident by email:

This morning’s collision between a BNSF train and a commercial street sweeper at the Grove Lane crossing occurred at 6:19 AM. An East bound BNSF train was traveling at 10-15 MPH when the engineer saw a street sweeper stopped on the tracks at Grove Lane. He observed this while the train was near the TCF bank building. The train horn was sounded and brakes applied until the collision. The train was able to reduce speed significantly prior to the crash. The driver of the street sweeper indicated that the brushes on the sweeper may have hung up as he was trying to back off of the crossing, as the arms had come down while he was between them.  He suffered very minor injuries and was able to walk away from the scene. The Shoreline Drive exit off of eastbound County Road 15, Ferndale Road near Lake Street, and Grove Lane were all closed until the train was eventually moved at 9:20 AM.


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