Kent police said a 46-year-old man was killed tonight after stepping in front of a Sounder commuter train.

The accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of W. Meeker Street and a railroad crossing. The man, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Commander Pat Lowery said warning gates and audible warning signals were working properly.

The incident has caused a delay for several commuter trains in the area.

Everything at Pierce County’s Chambers Creek properties and recreation area is now open except the Bridge to the Beach, the county said today.

Operations at the golf course and popular walking, jogging and biking trails in University Place were disrupted following a train derailment along the waterfront on Saturday.

Here’s the press release from Pierce County:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 28, 2011
 
Most of Chambers Creek Properties reopens to the public
 
With one exception, Pierce County’s popular Chambers Creek Properties returned to normal operations Monday, Feb. 28, following disruptions caused by

…

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Amtrak is back running through Tacoma.

The first northbound train to negotiate the track past the freight train derailment by Chambers Bay Golf Course came through at 9 p.m. Sunday.

A passenger train made it south through the Tacoma area at 8:20 a.m. today, a spokesman at the Tacoma Amtrak Station said this morning.

The full daily complement of 10 trains – five north and five south - through Tacoma are scheduled today, the spokesman said.

Full cleanup of the derailment could take up to three weeks. Four rail cars were still on the beach Sunday. An estimated 50 gallons of …

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A northbound freight train rumbling through downtown Kent Wednesday night struck a car that was high-centered on the tracks and pushed it  about three blocks before it could stop.

The 21-year-old driver of the car from Burien and his male 25-year-old passenger from Seattle were able to get out of the car but then along with Kent police watched the train hit the car a few minutes later. No one was injured. The car, a 1991 Nissan Sentra, was seriously damaged.

Kent police spokesman Lt. Pat Lowery said the driver was eastbound on Smith Street near the Sound rail station …

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