62% of current highway-rail grade crossings should be closed

Crossing closures are considered to be the most effective safety improvement program



Closures are part of a federal mandate to close 25% of redundant or unused railroad crossings for safety... the latest article (above) says this figure should more than double.

 

Looks like they're working on it: A Review of Psychophysiological Measures to Assess Cognitive States in Real-World Driving... maybe they'll open the crossings again when the vehicles no longer allow people to make those mistakes.

 

The abstract doesn't say if this was a variable in their model (just that there were variables). The second article mentions "unused" crossings, but that's a wonder too.

 

Looks like both are involved in funding...

"The Railway-Highway Crossings (Section 130) Program provides funds for the elimination of hazards at railway-highway crossings...

The 2015 Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) continues the annual set-aside for railway-highway crossing improvements under 23 USC 130(e). The funds are set-aside from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) apportionment. The FAST Act increased the set-aside amount for each fiscal year. In addition, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-113) provided a one-time increase for fiscal year 2016. The annual set-aside will be:

FY 2016: $350 million
FY 2017: $230 million
FY 2018: $235 million
FY 2019: $240 million
FY 2020: $245 million

The Section 130 program funds are eligible for projects at all public crossings including roadways, bike trails and pedestrian paths. Fifty percent of a State's apportionment under 23 USC 130(e) is dedicated for the installation of protective devices at crossings.

In accordance with 23 USC 130(i), the funds can be used as incentive payments for local agencies to close public crossings provided there are matching funds from the railroad. Also, in accordance with 23 USC 130(h), the funds can be used for local agencies to provide matching funds for State-funded projects."

About Railroad Crossing Closures
"The primary responsibility of the Utilities and Transportation Commission rail safety program is to make sure that grade crossings, where roads and highways cross railroad tracks, are as safe as possible. Grade crossings are a necessary part of our transportation system, but all crossings are inherently dangerous.

In Washington state, the commission is the independent, impartial decision maker when a public crossing is proposed to be closed. The commission will investigate whether the crossing is a “public necessity” as defined in RCW 81.53.060. The commission considers the convenience and necessity of the crossing, which includes analyzing the impacts on emergency response, traffic circulation, public access and planned development against the safety risk of leaving the crossing open to the public. Staff participates in the hearing process along with the railroad and road authority, typically the county or city."

National Transportation Safety Board Safety Recommendation
"According to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Railroad Industry Grade Crossing Policy Agenda, "the violation of traffic laws relating to highway-rail grade crossings is the single most significant factor in grade crossing incidents... Incidents annually occur at grade crossings at which traditional highway 'stop' signs have been installed."

Concurrent with the installation of stop signs at all passive crossings is the need to inform the Nation’s motorists of the need to stop at passive crossings."

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"Well duh", you'd think... but the improvements made after 1998 have only reduced accidents from 4000 to 3000 per year, long after funding was provided for stop signs to be installed at passive crossings.

So it seems as if a 'state of emergency' has been declared on railroad crossings, since eliminating them is now said to be safest option in general. Obviously those were all considered public necessities, for having been built in the first place. I wonder if this will have an impact on official states of emergency, and make evacuation less safe on the roads. Of course, more escape routes would be closed in the process of closing the majority of railroad crossings. Perhaps they should make them capable of being opened quickly for that purpose (if they really want to make crossings safer for the public).

By the way, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has guidance about Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety, including emergency phone numbers, etc.

They say that for highway-rail grade crossing incidents, an average of 10 per week involve trucks or tractor-trailers (and 44 incidents per week involve something else crossing the tracks).
Wow, it sounds like one or more trucks are hit by trains every day!

 

Case in point... "a BNSF spokeswoman said the railway has closed more than 6,000 at-grade crossings since 2000. If there's a way to close a crossing and offer a viable alternative for traffic, the company will work with the community to do so, she said.

That was the case in St. Paul Park, where the area's extensive commercial truck traffic is now diverted to a nearby overpass...

Work on the project cost $954,000 and involved removing the existing road, building a cul-de-sac with a turnaround and restoring the area. BNSF chipped in $100,000 and loaned equipment and crews for the job.

After a train and semitrailer truck filled with flour collided at the intersection in June 2015, Gov. Mark Dayton visited the site and urged lawmakers to better fund rail safety improvements.

No one was injured in the crash, but Dayton called for the crossing's removal."

 

I just picture a train derailing and try to keep a safe distance from that, but then they allow trees to block my view there...

AL Train Derailment Blocks 2 Railroad Crossings...

Trains have derailed at crossings by themselves, and can take out traffic there too. It seems that several reports of such incidents could be found, and this one shows how far off track they can end up . . .



So, even if every truck stopped for every train, the crossings would still be "inherently dangerous", like they said. The above grade crossings are also dangerous, since that Amtrak flew onto the freeway traffic.


There's a long list of rail accidents...

In the another train derailment, a truck had damaged the tracks prior to a train crashing off of them (after the truck was gone).

They can occur along the road at damaged switches also...

This one required evacuation of the area from hazardous materials on the train.