5
Grade Separations - New and Reconstructed: Construction,
reconstruction, or repair of bridges carrying a local road or street over railroad
tracks (overpass); construction, reconstruction, or repair of bridges carrying
railroad tracks over a local road or street (subway);
Grade Separations - Vertical Clearance Improvements: Lowering the
existing highway pavement surface under a railroad bridge to improve vertical
clearance for motor vehicles;
Pedestrian Grade Separations: Construction of a bridge to carry
pedestrian/bicycle traffic over or under railroad tracks;
Interconnects: Upgrading the circuitry at grade crossings where warning
signals are connected to the adjacent traffic signals so that the two systems
operate in a synchronized manner;
Highway Approaches: Improvements to the portion of the public roadway
directly adjacent to the crossing surface;
Connecting Roads: Construction of a roadway between a closed crossing
and an adjacent open, improved crossing;
Remote Monitoring Devices: Sensor devices in the circuitry of grade
crossing warning devices which immediately alert the railroad to any failures
in warning device operations;
Low Cost Improvements at Unsignalized Crossings: Installation of new,
more reflective crossbuck warning signs and YIELD signs at crossings that do
not require automatic warning devices; and
Crossing Closures: Provide an incentive payment to local agencies for the
voluntarily closure of public highway-rail grade crossings.
The cost of railroad crossing safety improvements varies substantially depending
on the nature of the work undertaken. A standard installation of gates with automatic
flashing light signals on a two-lane road typically costs approximately $180,000-
$200,000. Additional costs for road improvements could typically range from $2,000 to
$100,000 depending on the road type and location. Grade separation structures are
very costly. The GCPF has made contributions to pavement lowering (vertical
clearance improvements) projects costing $35,000 - $3 million, and new underpass
structures costing as much as $36 million. Bridges over railroads can cost from
$600,000 for a rural structure to $40 million for a multi-lane multi-railroad urban
structure. Typically, the ICC authorizes contributions from GCPF that pay up to 60% of
the cost for grade separation projects and 85% to 95% for grade crossing
improvements, although ICC policy is to allocate no more than $12 million from the
GCPF to any individual project unless unusual circumstances warrant. When the
numbers of crossing locations needing improvement are multiplied by project costs, the
problem of allocating sufficient assistance from the GCPF becomes apparent.
CROSSING SAFETY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
This report presents the railroad crossing safety capital improvements that ICC
staff proposes to implement during FY 2010 and also looks ahead to the projects
contemplated for FY 2011-FY 2014. In all cases it is assumed that any required local
funding match will be available. In some cases local funding may not be available
