Date:  Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Contact: Vickie Sheehan, WSDOT State Rail & Marine (360) 705-7904 (Olympia)
Mike Westbay, WSDOT Communications (509) 728-4712(Union Gap)
Gus Melonas, BNSF Railway (206) 625-6220

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Railroad crossing gates scheduled for installation in Mabton at SR 241

YAKIMA – Railroad crossing gates will be installed at SR 241 north of SR 22 in Mabton, WA in early 2008, announced the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) approved a $20,000 grant to upgrade the warning devices at the railroad crossing in Mabton. WSDOT will provide additional funding to complete the project.

The BNSF Railway (BNSF) will complete the installation of the crossing gates using equipment that they are relocating from a BNSF crossing that was recently closed near Curlew, WA. The installation process is projected to begin in early February and will take approximately 30-45 days to complete.

The estimated cost to relocate and install the equipment is $33,000. Without the use of the relocated equipment from BNSF, the cost to purchase and install new equipment would have cost as much as $150,000, and would have taken up to 6 months or longer to complete.

WSDOT applied for the WUTC grant after being informed by WUTC that the gate assemblies were available and were compatible with the signal circuitry at the Mabton crossing. Since crossings signal components are designed with a particular crossing in mind, it is not always possible to transfer equipment from one crossing to another. Subsequently, WSDOT, WUTC, and BNSF worked together to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

The Mabton crossing currently has “crossbuck” signs and flashing lights installed to warn drivers of approaching trains. Despite the availability of these warning devices, three train-vehicle collisions have occurred at the crossing since 1997 resulting in driver fatalities. In each case, official collision reports recorded that warning signals were functioning properly and that the drivers did not stop for the signals.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, collisions between highway vehicles and trains have been, until recently, the greatest source of injuries and fatalities in the railroad industry. Nationally since 1994, the number of fatalities and injuries at road/rail crossings have decreased by more than 40 percent. In Washington State, fatalities and injuries at road/rail crossings have decreased by 50 percent since 1994.

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