LITERATURE REVIEW OF HIGHWAY-RAILROAD GRADE CROSSING SIGHT DISTANCE ASSUMPTIONS

The amount and type of sight distance provided at highway-railroad grade crossings can have significant impacts on safety. The proper calculation of these sight distances, therefore, is very important. This feature reviews the assumptions used by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to calculate highway-railroad grade crossing sight distances and documents past research of alternatives to these assumptions. The impacts of using alternative assumptions are discussed. It is suggested that a design vehicle length of 22.5 m be used and that the models derived by Olson and colleagues (1984) and Gillespie (1986) be used to calculate braking distance and clearance time, respectively. The use of a 3.0-s perception-reaction time for stopped vehicle drivers is also recommended. In addition, a portion of the highway-railroad sight distance table in AASHTO's "A Policy of the Geometric Design of Highways and Streets" is recalculated.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/614107147
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Page Range: pp 32-34, 36-37
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Knapp, K K
• Publication Date: 1999-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 5 p.
• Serial:
  • ITE Journal
  • Publisher: Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
  • ISSN: 0162-8178
  • Serial URL: https://www.ite.org/publications/ite-journal/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: At grade intersections; Braking; Calculation; Clearance interval (Traffic signal cycle); Geometric design; Highway design; Length; Literature reviews; Mathematical models; Railroad grade crossings; Reaction time; Sight distance; Vehicle size
• Identifier Terms: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00779691
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 22 1999 12:00AM