Systems Engineering Division Railroad Unit

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LA DOTD Highway - Rail Safety Overview
2008 Louisiana Highway - Rail Safety
Summit February 27, 2008
Janice P. Williams, P. E. Chief, Systems
Engineering Division LA DOTD
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Highway - Rail Safety Pop Quiz

• If you have 2900 public locations to cross
  railroad tracks in LA and 200 trains per day
  using those tracks

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Highway - Rail Safety Pop Quiz

• What do you get?
• Time to listen to your I-pod while you wait for
  trains to pass
• Drivers playing Chicken with trains
• On average, the 5th worst record in the country
  for Highway - Rail Crossing incidents
• All of the above

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Highway - Rail Safety Pop Quiz

• All too often we get something
• like this

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LA DOTD Highway - Rail Safety Overview

• Mission
• Organization
• Functions

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LA DOTD Highway - Rail Safety Overview

• Mission
• Background
• Mission Statement

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Background
Mission

• 16,348 Miles State Roads
• 2,700 Miles Rail
• 76 of Rail Mileage Class 1

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Background (continued)

• 1 of only 2 States with 6 Class 1 Railroads
• Union Pacific Railroad, UP
• Kansas City Southern Railway, KCS
• Canadian National/Illinois Central, CNIC
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe, BNSF
• Norfolk Southern Corporation, NS
• CSX Transportation, Inc., CSX

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Background (continued)

• DOTD RR Safety Budget Partition
• 8 million per fiscal year
• 100 Federal funds
• 50 projects per year on average
• Cross-buck w/ Stop or Yield sign 2 K
• Flashers w/Gates 200K

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Background (continued)

• Highway Rail Grade Crossing Math
• 8 million per year
• Avg cost of 200K per crossing
• By 2058, we could Gate all public crossings in
  LA
• Does not include replacement or upgrade of
  existing equipment

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LA DOTD Systems Engineering Section Railroad Unit
Mission Statement

• Our mission is to strive to save lives at
  Louisianas highway/rail crossings through
  appropriate administration of Federal Railroad
  Safety Funds, Louisiana Operation Lifesaver
  participation, ongoing involvement with
  Parish/City governments, effective
  closures/consolidations teams, and upgrading
  crossings/obtaining Railroad Agreements as part
  of DOTDs construction program.

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Organization Chart
LA DOTD
Systems Engineering Division Janice P. Williams,
P. E.
Systems Engineering Section Trey Jesclard, P. E.
Railroad Unit Bill Shrewsberry, P. E.
Carlton Bell Gary Milligan
Kim Brunty
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Railroad Unit Functions

• Safety Program
• Highway Priority Program
• Legal Support Services

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Safety Program

• Administer Federal Safety Funds
• Title 23 CFR Sec 130 Provides Funding For RR
  Safety Improvements
• Helps States Address Hwy/Rail Safety

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Safety Program

• Administer Federal Safety Funds
• Develop Priorities
• Community/Railroad Input
• Crash History
• Field Review
• Engineering Analysis

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Safety Program
Factors for consideration

• Develop Priorities
• Engineering Analysis
• Individual Crossings/Unique Situations
• Corridor Projects
• Short Lines

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Safety Program

• Administer Federal Safety Funds
• Develop Priorities
• Project Selection
• Upgrades/Improvements

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Safety Program

• Upgrades/Improvement
• Flashing Lights with Gates

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Safety Program

• Upgrades/Improvement
• Flashing Lights without Gates

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Safety Program

• Upgrades/Improvement
• Flashing Lights
• Gates
• Pre-Emption
• Simultaneous
• Advanced

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Safety Program

• Administer Federal Safety Funds
• Develop Priorities
• Project Selection
• Upgrades/Improvements
• Consolidations/Closings
• Overpasses/Underpasses (Rare)

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Safety Program

• Administer Federal Safety Funds
• Develop Priorities
• Project Selection
• Initiatives

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Safety Program

• Initiatives
• Yield/Stop Program

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Safety Program

• Initiatives
• Yield/Stop Program
• Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Action Plan
• Crossing Surface Replacements
• Overpass/Underpass Program

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Safety Program

• Administer Federal Safety Funds
• Develop Priorities
• Project Selection
• Initiatives
• Partnering For Education And Enforcement

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Highway Priority Program

• Permits/Agreements for DOTD Construction
• Overpass/Underpass Agreements
• Crossing Improvement Agreements
• Misc Permits (Wireline, Pipeline, Drainage,etc. )

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Highway Priority Program

• Permits/Agreements for DOTD Construction
• Same Review Process as Safety Program
• Miscellaneous Other Construction
• Surface Panels
• New/Relocated Tracks

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Legal Support Services

• Fact Witness for Depositions/Tort Liability
• Administer DOTD RR Inventory Database
• Historical Research as Needed
• Advise Administration on RR Issues

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Legal Support Services

• Fact Witness for Depositions/Tort Liability
• Administer DOTD RR Inventory Database
• Historical Research as Needed
• Advise Administration on RR Issues

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LA DOTDSystems Engineering Section Railroad
Unit

• Final Thought
• DOTD is committed to improving safety at
• Highway Rail grade crossings in LA.

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• Remember this saying
• And you'll be spared,
• Trains don't whistle
• Because they're scared.
• Burma Shave
• 1941

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Questions?
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LA DOTD Highway - Rail Safety Overview
Thank you!
Janice P. Williams, P. E. Chief, Systems
Engineering Division LA DOTD