CLOSURE OF U.S. HIGHWAY-RAILROAD GRADE CROSSINGS: A STATUS REPORT

Together, grade crossing collisions and trespasser incidents account for about 95 percent of railroad-related fatal injuries. In the United States, a train collides with a vehicle every 150 minutes. This paper focuses on the closure and consolidation of highway-railroad at-grade or level crossings. The definition of high speed varies from 130 km/h (80 mph) in Sweden to 275 km/h (170 mph) in Japan. Achieving consensus among State transportation divisions, boards, review committees, railroads, municipalities and the public is integral to the closure process. Closure criteria vary by locality, but typically include train and roadway traffic volume, speed of trains, number of tracks, material being carried, crossing location, visibility, distance to traffic signals and number of crashes. Crossings of more than four per 1.6 kilometers or one mile that have fewer than 2,000 vehicles per day and more than two trains per day are prime candidates for closure. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E207956.