Annoying Rail Crossings that need to be grade separated

[hobsini2]

There are a couple that come to mind in the Chicagoland area.

US 34 (Ogden Ave) in Aurora.  Rough crossing and with the future railroad line being used by Metra, needs to be an overpass.

IL 126 (Main St) in Plainfield. Rough crossing with a close proximatey to a signal with Route 59.

Either Main St in Downers Grove, Fairview Ave in Downers Grove or Cass Ave in Westmont. There currently are no over/underpasses between Belmont Rd in Downers Grove and Route 83 in Clarendon Hills. That is a stretch of roughly 7 miles with all 3 of the streets mentioned being very heavily used in rush hours.  The rail line itself is used by both Metra and Burlington Northern/Santa Fe freights.

IL 38 (Roosevelt Rd/State St) in West Chicago/Geneva.  Route 38 is a 4 lane divided highway with speed limits of 55 at the crossing. The crossing is just west of a rail yard in West Chicago so those freights along with Metra trains cause frequent backups of up to 15 minutes at a time. It is also quite difficult to "get around" the crossing using a different route due to DuPage Airport and numerous industrial parks near the crossing.

[english si]

Many of those in the UK, especially the ones on the line between Waterloo and Reading - doubly especially those east of Richmond.

We have crossings that are closed 45 minutes of the hour as they have so many trains passing. And these are on major road routes.

[mapman1071]

Mcdowell Road Between 19th Avenue/Grand Avenue and 25th Avenue Phoenix, AZ
35th Avenue at Grand Avenue Phoenix, AZ (High number of Car/Train collisions)
Bethany Home Road at Grand Avenue   Glendale, AZ
59th Avenue/Glendale Avenue Intersection Glendale, AZ (Tracks run diag thru intersection)

[Stratuscaster]

IL 38 (Roosevelt Rd/State St) in West Chicago/Geneva.  Route 38 is a 4 lane divided highway with speed limits of 55 at the crossing. The crossing is just west of a rail yard in West Chicago so those freights along with Metra trains cause frequent backups of up to 15 minutes at a time. It is also quite difficult to "get around" the crossing using a different route due to DuPage Airport and numerous industrial parks near the crossing.

Plans to fix this one were announced back in October.
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20121003/news/710039824/

Roosevelt Road will shift slightly to the south and be elevated over the tracks. Kautz Road will be extended south onto the same elevated structure to meet at a T-intersection.

More:

IL-59 in Bartlett, south of Stearns Road and north of Army Trail Road.

County Farm Road in Hanover Park, between Schick Road and Army Trail Road.

Gary Avenue just south of Army Trail Road, and Army Trail Road just west of Gary Avenue. This one gets the pleasure of slow moving freight trains blocking TWO major roads at the same time.

[doorknob60]

In Bend, Reed Mkt Rd. and Revere Ave. could really use it. I've also been stopped at Portland/Olney Ave. and Wilson Ave., but those can survive (even though going back to school after lunch break from Taco Bell being stopped by a train on Portland/Olney is the worst Twice...). Also, US-97 near La Pine.

[D-Dey65]

Any remaining crossings of the Main Line of the Long Island Railroad in Nassau & Western Suffolk Counties. Actually there are lots of LIRR crossings that should be eliminated.

I also think most of the ones in Tampa and Pinellas County, Florida should be removed too, and yes, replaced with bridges.

[Molandfreak]

I've been calling this one for years. As far as I know, nobody is ever going to fix it

http://goo.gl/maps/z5ziI

[Dr Frankenstein]

A-20 in Saint-Hyacinthe, QC.

Reason: It crosses an urban freeway, dammit!

[vtk]

OH 4 just north of Attica, crosses CSX tracks at Siam, and then NS tracks just a bit north of there.  I don't know if there's a pressing safety problem here, but there is moderate traffic on both railroads as well as the highway, and these crossings certainly qualify as annoying. 

[cpzilliacus]

A-20 in Saint-Hyacinthe, QC.

Reason: It crosses an urban freeway, dammit!

Agreed.  Already mentioned upthread.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=8458.msg196328#msg196328

[D-Dey65]

I've been calling this one for years. As far as I know, nobody is ever going to fix it

http://goo.gl/maps/z5ziI

I see signs saying "Exempt" there. Are those signs wrong?

[Molandfreak]

I've been calling this one for years. As far as I know, nobody is ever going to fix it

http://goo.gl/maps/z5ziI

I see signs saying "Exempt" there. Are those signs wrong?

They were possibly correct when the google street view photos were taken, but since then the railroad has used that track about once a month east of Randolph!

[vtk]

If it's an exempt crossing with maybe one train a month, I don't see the problem.

[xcellntbuy]

Living in south Florida, there are many east-west (a few north-south diagonals), 6- and 8-lane roads that intersect with two sets of Florida East Coast railway tracks in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.  Double gates, high medians, flashing lights, nothing stops some moron from being killed at a railroad crossing, and in south Florida, idiot drivers are a dime-a-dozen.

The cost of building huge multi-lane overpasses to avoid the tracks would be in the billions of dollars.

[Brian556]

Exempt deos not nessessarily mean out of service. Some crossings that are in use are exempt for functional reasons, espacially those that pass diagonally hrough signalized intersections.

It does appear that the crossing in the GSV image is out of service. I don't think a train could fit under that broken cantilever.

[Revive 755]

Illinois
* IL 137 at the UP line next to US 41
* MLK Jr Drive at the UP line next to US 41
* Westleigh Road at the UP line next to US 41
* Old Elm Road at the UP line next to US 41

These aren't annoying from the amount of trains.   The first two are annoying due to the extra signal time MLK and IL 137 seem to get due to the need to keep the crossing clear.  The latter two are annoying that when there is a train, they get a lot of time for the track clearance phase, and if the train is traveling at the right speed, one can spend a while waiting at both stoplights on US 41.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Hammond Ave near the north end of Superior, WI. Busy road, and lots of long, slow trains leaving the depot at the west end of town.

[myosh_tino]

I believe the one on US 395 just north of CA 58 in Kramer Junction is going to be grade separated as part of the upgrade of 58 to freeway standards. I hope so, because there are some lengthy trains that cross highway there.

The same rail line crosses CA-58 west of Kramer Junction/US 395 and it has got to go.  Besides having really long trains which can result in really lengthy delays on CA-58, the highway has a significant kink in it where it crosses the railroad.  Couple that with traffic moving at 65+ MPH (the freeway portion of CA-58 ends about a 2 1/2 miles to the west), negotiating that kink can be pretty hairy.

[Molandfreak]

If it's an exempt crossing with maybe one train a month, I don't see the problem.

It's a lot better than it used to be, too. Now it at least has a gate

The exempt signs were removed a while back, gates were added, as well as truck stopping lanes.

[kphoger]

There are a couple that come to mind in the Chicagoland area.

What do you think about LaGrange Rd at the BNSF line?

[hm insulators]

Mcdowell Road Between 19th Avenue/Grand Avenue and 25th Avenue Phoenix, AZ
35th Avenue at Grand Avenue Phoenix, AZ (High number of Car/Train collisions)
Bethany Home Road at Grand Avenue   Glendale, AZ
59th Avenue/Glendale Avenue Intersection Glendale, AZ (Tracks run diag thru intersection)

Add Bell Road at Grand Avenue to the list.

[Molandfreak]

Off-topic, but an oddity: http://goo.gl/maps/X7WQ0 

[Brandon]

There are a couple that come to mind in the Chicagoland area.

What do you think about LaGrange Rd at the BNSF line?

Hell, you could fill this thread with examples from the Chicago area easily.

[mapman1071]

Mcdowell Road Between 19th Avenue/Grand Avenue and 25th Avenue Phoenix, AZ
35th Avenue at Grand Avenue Phoenix, AZ (High number of Car/Train collisions)
Bethany Home Road at Grand Avenue   Glendale, AZ
59th Avenue/Glendale Avenue Intersection Glendale, AZ (Tracks run diag thru intersection)

Add Bell Road at Grand Avenue to the list.

Bell Road Overpass At Grand Avenue Is Going to Be a diamond or SPUI TI with ramps from Bell Road Overpass to Grand Avenue (WB off and EB on ramps will cross the tracks) this is in the final stages of planning and will start construction in late 2013 and take 15 months to complete.

[amroad17]

Off-topic, but an oddity: http://goo.gl/maps/X7WQ0 

Jack, did you remember to subcontract someone taking down the crossing lights?