A deadly Wichita railroad crossing is expected to get a major change to help make it safer. Three deadly accidents in just six years have happened at the railroad crossing at 31st Street South and K-15. But an agreement between the City of Wichita, the state and the railroad company means you can expect to see new crossing signals in an effort to make it safer.

"As the accidents continued to increase, as the truck traffic increased, there was a realization that we really needed to do something," explains Joe Pajor, Assistant Director of Public Works for Wichita.

It's a busy intersection with construction trucks, cars and a fair share of trains. It's also been the sight of three deadly accidents that happened while people were crossing the tracks when trains hit them.

"The intersection of the rail line and this street have been a problem," says Pajor.

Until a couple of years ago, the property where the tracks run was privately owned by Cornejo and Sons. In order to get better warning signals put in, the company would have had to foot the bill to the railroad company or make the land public.

"By making it a public street, we could apply for the grant funding," says Pajor. "It was a safety hazard, so it became high enough on the list and it qualified for the grant that were signing the agreement for."

A portion of the land went to the city and received approval for a grant to install crossing signals with gates. The cost was $372,773, all of which was federally funded.

It's a move that an attorney for the family of one of the men killed says is a relief. But he says it still came a little too late for some.

"It's unfortunate that it took so much time and the number of accidents that had to occur before action was taken," said attorney Rachel Mackey.

But even with the new signals, city officials say everyone still needs to use extra caution around the tracks.

The agreement still needs to be signed by the state and then sent to the railroad company, BNSF, who will order the necessary equipment for the signals. Those are expected to be in place by the end of this year.