TRAFFIC-CONTROL MEASURES AT HIGHWAY-RAILWAY GRADE CROSSINGS WITH PROVISIONS FOR LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT

Railway rights-of-way in cities are attractive alternatives for transit corridors, but, for modes that are not fully grade-separated, such as light rail transit systems, there may be problems with combined railway and transit crossings of arterial streets. This situation has been studied in Edmonton, Alberta, where a light rail transit line is under construction. The surface portion of this line is along the railway right-of-way, and as a result, the operation of its eight grade crossings is regulated by railway authorities. The short headways of light rail transit could cause frequent disturbances to the road traffic that operates at a saturation during peak hours. This paper illustrates the method used for the analysis of the problem and discusses the surveys conducted. The basic principles governing the solutions to the grade-crossing problem are (a) the coordination of adjacent signalized intersections in such a way that the impact of the crossing closure is minimized and the system recovers shortly after the closure, (b) the integration of light rail transit scheduling and control with traffic control, i.e., restricting the closures to the periods of minimum impact on road traffic, and (c) the use of special features to increase safety. /Author/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1977/628/628-002.pdf
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=TRAFFIC-CONTROL+MEASURES+AT+HIGHWAY-RAILWAY+GRADE+CROSSINGS+WITH+PROVISIONS+FOR+LIGHT+RAIL+TRANSIT&author=J.+Schnablegger&author=S.+Teply&publication_year=1977
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Railroad Highway Grade Crossings. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Schnablegger, J
  • Teply, S
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; References;
• Pagination: pp 6-11
• Monograph Title: Lighting, visibility and railroad-highway grade crossings
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 628
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: At grade intersections; Headways; Light rail transit; Peak periods; Railroad grade crossings; Safety; Scheduling; Signalized intersections; Traffic control; Urban areas
• Uncontrolled Terms: Right of way
• Geographic Terms: Edmonton (Canada)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00168076
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309026539
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-022 157
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jan 30 1981 12:00AM