Railway/Highway Crossing Program
Program Purpose:
The Highway Safety Infrastructure program funds activities for safety improvement projects to eliminate hazards at rail/highway grade crossings.
Program Elements:
The Railway/Highway Crossings Program is designed to fund safety improvements to reduce the number of fatalities, injuries, and crashes at public grade crossings which may include elimination of grade crossings.
Call for Projects:
None scheduled pending Congressional reauthorization of a new Transportation Act.
Eligibility:
For the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings, including the installation of new crossing protection devices, passive crossing protection devices, upgrade of existing signal devices, railroad crossing closures, and pedestrian crossing improvements for high priority projects.
Selection of Projects:
The priority matrix is the first of two basic screening processes to prioritize and select projects for funding under the Railway/Highway Crossing Improvement program. Based upon the information provided by the project proponent on each of the crossing elements, an initial ranking of potential projects is generated.
From this initial ranking, the top projects are field reviewed for final prioritization. The field review is performed by a Rail Crossing Diagnostic Team, with representatives from the WSDOT H&LP, WSDOT Rail Office, WSDOT Region Local Programs, WUTC, the affected Railroad, and the affected agency.
At the time of the field review, the entire project and the various elements noted below will be evaluated.
| Summary of Evaluation Criteria: |
Weight |
| Exposure Factor |
8 Maximum |
| Accidents |
10 Maximum |
| Crossing Closure |
10 Maximum |
| Routes |
30 Maximum |
| Roadway Items |
10 Maximum |
| Railroad Items |
20 Maximum |
| Sight Distance |
9 Maximum |
| Crossing Angle |
8 Maximum |
|
105 points |
After the Diagnostic Team reviews the project, the application points and field review evaluation will determine the final ranking of projects for recommendation to the Director of Highways & Local Programs.
For the site distance table and other information on the railway/highway crossing program see Chapter 32 of the LAG manual.
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