Highway-Railway Grade Crossing Action Plan and Project Prioritization Noteworthy Practices

PART 2. NOTEWORTHY METHODS IN PROJECT PRIORITIZATION

Chapter 5. Background on Prioritization

The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) requires a data-driven strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads that focuses on performance. Railway-Highway Crossings Program (Section 130) funds are set aside from the HSIP apportionment for the elimination of hazards and installation of protective devices at highway-crossings. In accordance with 23 USC 130(d), each State is required to conduct and systematically maintain a survey of all highways to identify those railroad crossings that may require separation, relocation, or protective devices. Each State is also required to establish and implement a schedule of projects for this purpose. At a minimum, this schedule is to provide warning signs for all highway-crossings.

States adhere to this requirement by developing systematic prioritization methods to identify crossings that have the greatest hazard to the traveling public. These prioritization methods are tailored by the States to accommodate their unique situations, in part due to the number of crossings and crashes and the size and scale of the grade crossing protection program.

Based on the review of the 10 State action plans and discussions with several States, the approaches to prioritize projects generally follow a few general types:

• Process driven: States ask railroads and local governments for suggested crossing improvements on a regular basis.
• Data and formula driven: States apply database information (often matched with accident/risk prediction models) to rank crossings for protection consideration.
• Hybrid approaches: States apply data and formulas in combination with project identification from stakeholders.

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