Residents of a popular holiday and fishing destination want a nearby level crossing upgraded after the death of a motorcyclist.

The crossing, which is marked by a stop sign on an 80km/h section of road near Weeroona Island, has freight and passenger trains pass through at all hours of the day and night.

A 63-year-old Western Australian man died at the Causeway Road crossing after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a southbound frieght train shortly before 11am Sunday.

The first signs announcing the crossing are located just over 200 metres away and vegetation obstructs views of the rail line until drivers arrive at the crossing.

Weeroona Island Progress Association member Emmanuel Korniotakis said safety measures were inadequate.

"We've always felt like there's something more that could be done other than just a stop sign there," Mr Korniotakis said.

He said a solar light at the crossing was not very bright.

"It's something that the government has to look at because it's just a ticking time bomb, it's going to happen again," he said.

"It's easy to say people should be more careful but in real life we know that doesn't happen, so we need this to keep people safe."

Crash tragedies

A driver was seriously injured and their passenger was killed when their car was struck by a freight train at the crossing in 2012.

An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that while the driver was familiar with the crossing and regularly stopped, driver distraction was the likely cause of the crash.

Mr Korniotakis said new visitors to the island were more likely to run the stop sign.

"Whether it's their first time on the island, or people forgetting, cars go straight across at night and during the day and they've just been lucky," he said.

"It happens all the time.

"I'm afraid that someone else is going to lose their lives, someone that I might know."

Upgrades sidelined after investigation

The Weeroona Island Progress Association wrote to the Mount Remarkable District Council in 2020 expressing safety concerns about the crossing.

The council requested a review of the crossing by the Australian Rail Track Corporation which found safety controls "met the required standard for a level crossing with the sighting distance and volume of road traffic".

The corporation said at the time that there were no plans to upgrade the crossing with lights and gates.

Acting Regional Roads Minister Clare Scriven said the state government would conduct its own investigation after Sunday's crash.

"The Causeway Road level crossing is under the care, control and management of the council and ARTC, which includes responsibility for identifying and managing risks, safety treatments and potential upgrades at the crossing," she said.

"The Department of Infrastructure and Transport will however be undertaking a review of this crossing and forwarding any findings or recommendations to the council and ARTC for implementation.

"The requirement for equipment like lights and boom gates at rail crossings is dependent on a variety of factors such as typical volume, type and speed of trains using the crossing, and the frequency and type of road traffic."

Mr Korniotakis said deaths at the crossing should be taken into consideration.

"That's what they have at Warnertown and it took them a long time to get that, but similar things were happening there," he said.

"At the end of the day, we need lights, boom gates or both, something more has to be done."