Improving Traveler Experience Via Alternatives to Roadway/Railway Grade Crossings

There are more than 240,000 at-grade crossings between railroads and roadways in the U.S. and as the number of freight trains increases, the times of interface and blocked crossings also increases. USDOT reports numerous driver complaints about delays and frequent disruptions, and in some cases, there are delays to emergency vehicles due to excessive numbers of blocked trains. Work is underway to continue documentation and to consider strategies and address the frequent and repeated delays caused by long trains. The most requested remedy is grade separation. Grade separations are extremely expensive, and planning and construction lead times are long, so there is a need to identify other more short-term strategies that will offer travelers and emergency responders options to waiting on the long trains. The focus of this research will be Fort Bend County and Harris County, Texas, which include major freight corridors from Port Houston, the 3rd largest container port in the country. Between the two counties, there are at least 11,000 at grade crossings. Specifically, this work will assemble delay time data showing frequency and duration for the identified railroad crossings. The team will conduct literature review and on-line and in-person conversations to determine options and strategies underway by entities (e.g., railroad operators), municipalities, and others to address better traveler information and options to reduce and avoid delay time. Potential options include cameras noting delays and following with notifications to emergency services proximate to locations with frequent delays. The study team will examine whether this information distribution could be expanded to additional users. An additional option to be examined is message signs alerting travelers to blocked crossings in time to adjust their travel route. The expected research outcome is to provide an option to grade separations that will reduce delay time for travelers caused by blocked train crossings.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.sptc.org/cy3-tsu-01

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $70,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348306 (CY3-TSU-01)

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Southern Plains Transportation Center

  University of Oklahoma
  202 W Boyd St, Room 213A
  Norman, OK  United States  73019

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Oklahoma, Norman

  School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
  202 West Boyd Street, Room 334
  Norman, OK  United States  73019
• Project Managers:

  Ghasemi, Hamid

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas Southern University, Houston

  Center for Transportation Training and Research
  3100 Cleburne
  Houston, TX  United States  77004
• Principal Investigators:

  Goodwin, Gwendolyn

• Start Date: 20260101
• Expected Completion Date: 20270101
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: UTC

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Congestion management systems; Emergency vehicles; Freight trains; Railroad grade crossings; Traffic delays; Traveler information and communication systems
• Geographic Terms: Texas
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01975759
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Southern Plains Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348306 (CY3-TSU-01)
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 6 2026 5:10PM