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There are a substantial number of grade crossings along these corridors; the 13 corridors traverse 3,107 miles of track and contain about 2,869 grade crossings. About 60 percent of these crossings are estimated to be on public roads.[1]
After this accident, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) organized an intradepartmental task force to upgrade the safety of grade crossings first on the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor and second on all the high-speed rail corridors in the State. The task force has completed a report on the first phase of its assignment. The report includes recommendations relating to improvements that "can be implemented within 6 months." (See Appendix.)
In addition to IDOT's efforts to improve safety at grade crossings, the Will County Highway Department and ICG Railroad soon will install flasher lights at the Manhattan Road crossing and Amtrak has initiated a grade crossing safety program. Amtrak has organized a unit within its organization which is responsible for projects to improve the safety at grade crossings.
ANALYSIS
The Grade Crossing
The truckdriver, operating his vehicle at a speed of about 40 mph, required a minimum of 275 feet to stop the truck safely before he reached the track; he required about 190 feet to decelerate the vehicle to a speed at which he could have steered hard to the left in order to avoid the track without turning his truck over. Trucks traveling at the 55—mph Speed limit on Manhattan Road require a minimum of 490 feet of stopping sight distance.[2]This intersection, in the critical portion of the Westbound approach: only provided about 200 feet of unobstructed sight distance to the track. This sight distance warrants a reduction in speed limit to 30 or 35 mph or the installation of active grade crossing protection devices.
The type of protection installed at crossings which accommodate trains that operate at speeds significantly higher than other trains in the area—for example, turboliner passenger trains versus freight trains—is especially critical. At such locations, active protection devices are essential to insure that the motorist is made aware of an
- ↑ U.S. Department of Transportation Report to Congress, "Railroad-Highway Safety, Part II: Recommendations for Resolving The Problem," FRA/FHWA, August, 1972.
- ↑ The stopping sight distance is the distance traversed by a vehicle from the instant the driver sights an object for which he must stop to the instant that the vehicle is stopped completely.
