It was the site of a close call between a car and a train less than a month ago, now CP Rail is confirming a barrier will be placed at the downtown crossing.

Work has begun at St. George and Piccadilly streets for the new crossing arms, prompted in part by calls for change from area residents.

Austin Gibbons lives across the street and was surprised and pleased to learn something's being done, he says he thought, "they're waiting for somebody to get killed before they do anything there...It's about time."

Mike Hessey owns a nearby business and has seen the aftermath of dozens of collisions with trains in the past 30 years, "Usually I'll be downstairs working in the office and suddenly you hear a big crash and we come running."

That's what happened last month, when a man was injured after his car collided with a westbound freight train.

Police say lights were flashing and bells were ringing when the crash occurred, but for whatever reason, the driver went through.

Hessey says he sees plenty of drivers and pedestrians who don't hesitate as they cross, whether lights are flashing or not.

"You have so many things going on in your mind today, and things like that can happen pretty quickly."

CP Rail says the installation of the crossing arms will happen over the next few months, and they will be operational before the end of the year.