At around 11:30am this morning the City of Portage Fire Department was dispatched to a vehicle versus train accident at the intersection of Centre Road and Shaver Road.The driver of the rental truck had been northbound on Shaver and was attempting a turn right to head East on Centre Road when the collision occurred. The impact pushed the rental truck into the overhead railroad crossing signal which was severed from its base and fell into the traffic lanes on Centre Road.
The train came to a stop about 1/4 mile past the accident scene blocking Wesnedge Avenue at Shaver Road.
As of 1:00pm both East and West lanes on Centre Road and Westnedge Avenue at Shaver Road were closed due to the accident with lengthy traffic backups in all directions on Centre Road and Shaver Road.
The driver of the truck suffered head injuries and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.
The train appeared to have only minor damage from the impact that totaled the rental truck. A small leakage from the lead train engine required the response of an environmental cleanup crew and supplemental tankers to off load the several thousand gallons of diesel fuel in the side saddle compartment.
The Michigan State Police accident reconstruction team was dispatched from Paw Paw to the scene to assist the Portage Police Department in the investigation.
News 3 and News 8 were also present with film crews capturing footage for this evening's newcasts as well as a reporter from the Kalamazoo Gazette.
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