Protocol for upgrading at-grade railroad signals to lights/bells/gates

[Anthony_JK]

So...in my home city of Opelousas, Union Pacific Railroad is finally going through with upgrading their signals at all of its street/rail crossings to include crossing gates along with lights and updated bells. They've already completed the signal upgrade on Warrior, Oak, and Lombard Streets; I'm assuming that they will also upgrade the 50-year-old signals on Court and Market Streets with more modern lights and gates as well. The other signals were upgraded nearly 10 years ago.


That brings up an interesting question for me: What exactly is the protocol or procedure for state/local officials to decide which crossings get upgraded, and when? Is it based on AADT, or do they wait until some tragic accident occurs to intervene to upgrade a particular crossing?


This would be a good time for someone with knowledge of LADOTD procedure, too.

[jeffandnicole]

...do they wait until some tragic accident occurs to intervene to upgrade a particular crossing?

This is a frequent reason, along with when a group of people get together and complain to their local pols about how unsafe the crossing is, how they've been involved in close calls, and think about the children.

it's possible that the signals/crossings in your area were due for an upgrade anyway.  I've seen occasional upgrades around here - a few crossings didn't have lights and they were upgraded to lights, and a few with lights were upgraded to gates.  In these cases, they appeared to be associated with general upgrades of the crossing anyway.

There's a few crossings around here, in what's a populated area, that still don't have lights.  Yet, the next crossing down on the same line has been upgraded to gates.  So what they do can be seemingly random.

[SectorZ]

In some parts of Massachusetts, signals got upgraded because people complained about train whistles at every crossing. Once they get gates up and a 'no whistle blown' sign, the trains don't need to blow the whistle, and people who live in houses a century newer than the train tracks are happy.

[machias]

Back in the 1980s I know in Oswego County, New York that if a school bus crossed the crossing it had to have lights and gates. I think it was around 1982 or '83 that this rule came into effect.

[cjk374]

In some parts of Massachusetts, signals got upgraded because people complained about train whistles at every crossing. Once they get gates up and a 'no whistle blown' sign, the trains don't need to blow the whistle, and people who live in houses a century newer than the train tracks are happy.

These are called quiet zones.  I, as a railroad employee, hate the idea of quiet zones.  I don't have any on my railroad and I don't want any.  It does require a full upgrade of the grade crossing and appropriate signage erected.  http://www.instantstreetview.com/2bm6niz1nksijz1huzojz2u

Louisiana ranks 6th in the nation in grade crossing accidents (http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/Query/gxrtally1.aspx) and IMHO, quiet zones are NOT the way for Louisiana's rank to drop. But because of this high ranking, LaDOTD has been giving money to railroads to upgrade crossings in the state.  My railroad had all of the signage replaced at the passive crossings.  http://www.instantstreetview.com/2bn8qoz1mwukmztjzr5z2u (This is on our wye in Gibsland, LA)

[Pete from Boston]

In some parts of Massachusetts, signals got upgraded because people complained about train whistles at every crossing. Once they get gates up and a 'no whistle blown' sign, the trains don't need to blow the whistle, and people who live in houses a century newer than the train tracks are happy.

As pictured in the link above, they also require those pylon strips to prevent you from running the gates.

[freebrickproductions]

In some parts of Massachusetts, signals got upgraded because people complained about train whistles at every crossing. Once they get gates up and a 'no whistle blown' sign, the trains don't need to blow the whistle, and people who live in houses a century newer than the train tracks are happy.

As pictured in the link above, they also require those pylon strips to prevent you from running the gates.

That, or use a quad-gate set-up.

[Pete from Boston]

In fact, at this instance:

http://www.instantstreetview.com/2i8j0hz22j5p3z3qvzomz4q

there was (and might still be) a paid flagger always on duty in the shed on the right before those yellow strips were in, as an extra requirement for the no-horn rule.  There was another one nearby where the person just sat in their car the whole time until a train was coming. 

[PHLBOS]

In Springfield, Delaware County, PA; several traffic signals that crossed SEPTA's Route 101 trolley line were upgraded a few years back to include gates and the traditional red flashing lights; but the locals complained (due to perceived additional traffic back-ups the supplemental signals caused) and the various signalized intersections lost their gates & flashing reds in favor of this arrangement.

[SectorZ]

In some parts of Massachusetts, signals got upgraded because people complained about train whistles at every crossing. Once they get gates up and a 'no whistle blown' sign, the trains don't need to blow the whistle, and people who live in houses a century newer than the train tracks are happy.

As pictured in the link above, they also require those pylon strips to prevent you from running the gates.

That doesn't appear to be the case here. Salem St in Wilmington MA. These tracks are mostly freight, but a spur of a commuter rail (to jump from the Lowell to Haverhill line) and the Downeaster route as well.

The signage coming from the east, https://goo.gl/maps/j2gQd

The actual crossing, https://goo.gl/maps/77se7

[Pete from Boston]

I don't know, I just heard there was a big stink in Medford when the Lowell Line horn exemption expired, and those barriers were a requirement to get them back.

[dfwmapper]

The worst crossings here tend to involve DART light rail lines. Very few deaths (at least, non-suicide deaths) because light rail trains can stop in a shorter distance and the worst points tend to be where the trains are running at the lowest speeds, but more property damage and near misses and inconvenienced transit riders.

Outside of downtown, most of the crossings have gates and it's not a big deal. In and around downtown, they instead rely on stoplights to handle things, which usually works except when dealing with idiots. One of the worst crossings is in the Deep Ellum neighborhood, where the line runs down the middle of a street with a station there too. Street view link http://goo.gl/maps/fzYdH. Cross traffic on Gaston is controlled by the lights, which works reasonably well. Left turning traffic on Good-Latimer has protected arrows and dedicated signs that light up when a train is passing. Unfortunately, stupid people will turn left from Good-Latimer when they have the green arrow, but then see the red ball that is stopping traffic on Gaston, and stop on the tracks. The train then gets the right of way, so the light stays red, and people stay there until the train blasts the horn and they realize they probably shouldn't be stopped there. Luckily it's close enough to the station that the trains are doing 15mph or less and can easily stop, but it isn't a good sign for the intelligence of the driving public that they stop on railroad tracks. Similar situation at the VA Medical Center (http://goo.gl/maps/R2j85), and this is probably the worst location on the entire system when it comes to cars stopped on the tracks and collisions between cars and trains.

[hm insulators]

In some parts of Massachusetts, signals got upgraded because people complained about train whistles at every crossing. Once they get gates up and a 'no whistle blown' sign, the trains don't need to blow the whistle, and people who live in houses a century newer than the train tracks are happy.

Same with Sun City West, Arizona, a retirement community. These are people that moved into houses near the railroad tracks (some of these houses were built less than 20 years ago) and then whined about the train horns.

[Brian556]

In Texas, TxDOT is responsible, and pays for, RR signal installations and major upgrades at al crossings, even those not on the state highway system.

Since I was a kid, a lot more crossings have been signalized. TxDOT has really come very far on this, reducing accidents greatly.