HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s been a year since a 15-year-old boy was killed by a train in Houston’s East Downtown outside of Milby High School.
Police say Sergio Rodriguez was trying to cross the train track on his way to school when he died. Houston police said last year, around 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 9, a 15-year-old boy tried to cross in front of a slow-moving Union Pacific train, according to information provided by witnesses. The student was hit about 1/5 mile down from where the caution arms went down.
His death brought an outcry from the community for change and railroad safety.
Time continues to move forward, but the memories of what happened here a year ago are still etched in the hearts of this community.
A year later, a new sidewalk was built, and a chain-link fence now blocks foot traffic over the railroad tracks.
Some people in this community say more needs to be done.
Norma Gutierrez was sitting in her car on Monday afternoon, looking at the memorial, when she spoke to ABC13. Gutierrez says her grandson had been friends with Rodriguez since they were young. She says, while Sergio is no longer here, it’s important to honor his memory.
She says the last year hasn’t been easy for this community or his family. Gutierrez says a pedestrian bridge is the best course of action for this community to help prevent another tragedy.
Union Pacific, after 8 months of not running train operations during Milby High School’s drop-off and pick-up times, resumed regular operations in August.
Community members were hopeful they wouldn’t resume until the pedestrian bridge was up, but that didn’t happen.
Gutierrez says it’s been a year, and nothing has changed. No bridge, no solutions, and the chain-linked fence put across the railroad tracks isn’t the solution, she says. She calls them a Band-Aid.
To this day, kids outside Milby High School still walk over the train tracks to get to and from school. A man who lives nearby says the train now passes the intersection of Broadway and Galveston around 3 p.m. every day.
Senator Carol Alvarado confirmed with ABC13 that a $10 million pedestrian bridge will break ground in the summer and tentatively be done before 2026 is over.
They’re calling it a priority project and plan to name it in Sergio’s memory. Houston Council Member Joaquin Martinez says the design for the pedestrian bridge by Milby High School is now at 30%, with construction anticipated to begin this coming summer.
ABC13 spoke to Sergio’s mom on Monday, and she says she went by the memorial on Monday morning. She says it’s too painful to talk about his death.
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