Chair: Karen Hankinson, PE, TE - Olsson, Irvine, CA, USA
Vice Chair: Nicole Jackson, PE, PTOE - Benesch, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Secretary: Maryam Hedayati, P.Eng - Transport Canada, Nepean, ON, Canada
To share current information on best practices in highway-rail grade crossing safety and operational treatments between members and other interested parties.
The Traffic Engineering Council established the Railroad Grade Crossing Committee for sharing Federal, State, and Local standards and best practices on traffic control treatments and devices at highway-railroad grade crossings and to synthesize this information and make it available to practitioners.
The Committee provides a venue for ITE to develop an up-to-date resources to supplement the U.S. Department of Transportation's Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook, 3rd Edition and ITE’s Preemption of Traffic Signals Near Railroad Grade Crossings, 2nd Edition Recommended Practice, as well as to provide more current information relevant to practitioners involved in the selection and/or design of highway-rail grade crossing traffic control devices. Committee members are active in developing and applying best practices and standards for grade crossing safety, design, and operation through various venues including participation on the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, American Railway Engineering and Maintenance Association (AREMA), and Transportation Operations and Maintenance Committee (TOMC) of the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC). In addition, the committee sponsors webinars, workshops, and sessions on grade crossing issues at ITE meetings, and with participation from public sector, private sector, and institutional professionals
To become a member, please add yourself to the Railroad Grade Crossing Committee’s ITE e-Community (available to ITE members only). You are encouraged to participate in the e-Community as a forum where researchers and practitioners can share and discuss materials relevant to the highway-rail grade crossing recent publications and studies, where new information can be tracked, and where emerging practices can be discussed. Examples include the development of preemption spreadsheets, hazard index calculations, and sample diagnostic team evaluation reports. The Railroad Grade Crossing e-Community provides a location where agencies can share their established procedures and users can have a centralized location for discussion of highway-rail grade crossings resources.
The Committee usually meets virtually four times every year:
January 23, 2025 Meeting Agenda
July 2024 Meeting | October 2024 Meeting
Index of Past Conference Presentations
For more information and availability please contact Douglas Noble (dnoble@ite.org)
Quick Bites:
Track Angle of Railroad Grade Crossings Effect on Bicycles
Two-Way Separated Bike Lanes at Railroad Grade
Webinar(s): Introduction to the New Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook, 3rd Edition (on-demand)
Various factors contribute to the safety of a highway rail grade crossing near an intersection controlled by a traffic signal, including railroad preemption of the traffic signal. This section provides useful information for practitioners to understand the key elements of preemption as well as worksheets to calculate adequate warning and preemption time.
Seven Points Every Traffic Engineer Should Know About Rail Preemption Installations by Brent D. Ogden provides an introduction for those less familiar with this aspect of traffic signal design, timing, and operation. The ITE recommended practice Preemption of Traffic Signals Near Railroad Grade Crossings, 2nd Edition offers detailed content and guidance regarding the topic.
Sample Preemption Forms
Knowing how much preemption time is needed is a key factor in timing traffic signals near highway-rail at-grade crossings. The following forms and instructions provide methodology and worksheets to determine the adequate amount of preemption and advance preemption time needed. Please confirm with your particular jurisdiction to confirm the most applicable form for your project. (Note: Some links may download in excel or zip format to preserve file attributes.)
Caltrans
City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation
Minnesota DOT
North Carolina DOT
Ohio DOT
Texas Department of Transportation
Utah Department of Transportation
Washington State DOT
Louisiana State DOT
Illinois State DOT
Oregon State DOT
Wisconsin State DOT
Please contact Karen or Nicole if your state has additional resources you would like included.
MUTCD
On December 19, 2023, a Final Rule adopting the 11th Edition of the MUTCD was published in the Federal Register with an effective date of January 18, 2024. States must adopt the 11th Edition of the National MUTCD as their legal State standard for traffic control devices within two years from the effective date. Follow the link below to access the latest manual:
Compliance dates for two provisions under Part 8 are adopted in this final rule. The compliance dates are summarized in Table 1B-1 of the MUTCD and are described in detail below and as stated I the Federal Register:
Preemption of Traffic Signals near Railroad Grade Crossings
The ITE Preemption of Traffic Signals near Railroad Grade Crossings Recommended Practice provides practitioners with comprehensive information, including examples, of the interconnection between grade crossing signal systems and traffic signal systems. The 2nd Edition was published in April 2021 and the ITE Grade Crossing Committee is currently underway with making revisions to be consistent with the 11th Edition of the MUTCD. A link to the current Recommended Practice is provided below:
Pre-Signals
Pre-Signals are traffic signals in advance of the highway rail grade crossings. This article from the ITE Journal (2006), "Use of Pre-Signals in Advance of a Highway Rail Grade Crossing: A Specialized Tool with Specific Applications", describes the use of pre-signals in the United States.
Hazard Index Calculations
The Federal Railroad Administration provides an online application for determining the hazard index of an at-grade crossing. Follow the link below to use the application.
Sample Diagnostic Team Evaluation Reports
Diagnostic Team Evaluations of grade crossings are an important part of evaluating the safety of at-grade crossings.
Here are a couple of examples:
Comprehensive Costs of Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Crashes
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 755: Comprehensive Costs of Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Crashes describes a process for estimating the costs of highway-rail grade crossing crashes.
Links
Committee membership is controlled entirely through ITE eCommunity. Subscribe to as many councils as you like and get involved.