Volume 4
May 2016 Edition
The list follows FRA Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg’s recent road crossings along energy routes.
letter to state DOT secretaries. The letter urged increased cooperation to improve safety at crossings and provided a de- Crossings with 10 or more incidents during the last decade
tailed round up of federal financial resources and FRA exper- Click on the crossing ID for a Google Street View of the crossing.
tise available to states.
“Knowing where repeat injuries and fatalities occur helps states Crossing ID CITY
STATE
TOTAL INTOTAL
TOTAL
CIDENTS
FATALI- INJUfocus their time and resources on areas where they can have
TIES
RIES
an impact,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
“Preventing incidents and fatalities at railroad crossings is one 025617C Phoenix
Arizona 24
0
2
of the Department’s top priorities, and I urge states to work with 025425K Phoenix
Arizona 21
0
4
FRA to achieve this life-saving goal.”
025422P Glendale Arizona 19
0
3
FRA tracks safety data at the nation’s more than 200,000 railroad crossings. FRA data show there are 15 crossings across
the United States where at least 10 incidents occurred over the
last decade. While fatalities have not occurred at all 15 crossings, the potential for injuries and loss of life could be signifi-
cant due to repeated incidents. The list of crossings is below.
330578C Ashdown
Arkansas
16
4
4
025430G Phoenix
Arizona
15
0
4
263164S Elmwood
Park
New
Jersey
14
1
4
879204S Muncie
Indiana
14
0
3
303227G Baton
Rouge
Louisiana
13
0
0
351290D Evergreen Alabama
13
5
1
Pascagoula
Mississippi
12
0
7
Cleveland
Ohio
12
0
1
Glendale
Arizona
10
0
1
Waycross
Georgia 10
0
1
Memphis
Tennes- 10
see
2
4
Houston
Texas
0
2
Many of the 15 crossings are at busy, multiple lane intersec340137G
tions in neighborhoods with significant truck traffic or have
tracks crossings roadways on a diagonal. Many crossings
close to a traffic intersection also have their warning systems 524223P
interconnected to traffic lights. If sequenced and working cor- 025590V
rectly, these interconnected systems can help prevent vehicles 637698V
from stopping over railroad tracks where there is limited roadway between the tracks and the nearby intersection. In Feb- 663401F
ruary, FRA reissued a safety advisory and sent a letter that
called on states to partner with railroads to verify that these 755627X
interconnected systems account for current highway traffic patterns. Fifty percent of the crossings FRA released today have For more
gov.
interconnected systems.
10
information, please visit https://www.transportation.
“I urge our state partners to join FRA in taking additional actions to improve crossing safety. I know that, together, we can
do more to save lives,” Administrator Sarah E. Feinberg wrote
to states in a letter. “FRA is ready and willing to help our partners in any way we can.”
Last year, FRA launched a new, comprehensive campaign to
reverse the uptick in fatalities at railroad crossings. The campaign includes partnering with tech companies to use FRA data
that pinpoints the country’s approximately 200,000 railroad
crossings and add crossing alerts to map applications. FRA
has also worked with local law enforcement to increase enforcement around railroad crossings. In 2015, 244 individuals
died at railroad crossings, down from 264 in 2014.
In March, FRA launched a redesigned website to serve as a
one-stop shop to help drivers, pedestrians, and law enforcement stay safe around railroad crossings. The launch follows
the agency’s award of nearly $10 million in grants for nine projects in eight states to upgrade and increase the safety of rail-
27