Webinar | 1/17/17 & 1/19/17 Railroad Coordination Jason Orthner, PE Manager of Design & Construction Jahmal Pullen, PE Engineering Coordination & Safety Manager
Rail Division Mission Established in1977, the NCDOT Rail Division’s mission is the safe and efficient movement of people and goods on North Carolina’s railroads through freight, passenger and safety programs, supporting job creation and economic growth. 2 Transportation
Railroads Operate in 86 of 100 NC Counties 6 8 20 2 14 Daily Daily Short Line Class I State-owned NCDOT Amtrak Railroads Railroads Corridors Trains Thru- 956 miles 2323 miles 109 miles Trains The state is served by two Class I railroads – Norfolk Southern (NS) and CSX Transportation (CSXT) and 20 Short Line Railroads. North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) owns and manages the 317 ‐ mile corridor extending from the Port of Morehead City to Charlotte. NS operates along the corridor through and operating and maintenance agreement. 3 Transportation
One Point of Contact for Railroad Coordination When NCDOT projects impact a railroad in NC – coordination with railroad is required. Railroads are The Rail Division will be establishing a private entities single point of contact. in business to make money Contact should be made immediately upon the determination that a project involves railroad coordination . Trains make money and must keep running Railroads are private right of way, and have their own policies and standards. Certain work within corridor can only be done by railroad forces. 4 Transportation
Rail Division Organization 5 Transportation
Types of Projects needing Railroad Coordination AT-GRADE CROSSINGS • Crossing/intersection layout • Railroad warning devices • Crossing closures • Railroad crossing roadway surfaces • Railroad crossing pavement markings • Railroad crossing maintenance payments 6 Transportation
Types of Projects needing Railroad Coordination BRIDGES UNDER OR OVER THE RAILROAD 7 Transportation
Types of Projects needing Railroad Coordination RAILROAD REALIGNMENTS • Realignments for parallel roadways • Realignments for overhead or undergrade bridges 8 Transportation
Coordination Process • Once a project has been determined to have railroad impacts, contact the Rail Division . • Throughout the project, Rail Division should be involved and receive any major submittals (ie. 15%, 25%, 65%, 90%, etc). Rail Division will provide comments as well as solicit comments from the railroads. • Coordination throughout the design cycle may involve many branches and personnel of the Rail Division. • Planning and Development Branch • Environmental / NEPA • Engineering Coordination and Safety Group • Crossing Closures • Crossing Surfaces and Encroachments • Safety • Design and Construction • Signals and Devices • Track Design • Construction Coordination 9 Transportation
Planning and Development Branch • Divisions and MPOs/RPOs should obtain letters of support from the Railroads (Class Is, and short lines) for any projects that they have submitted or are interested in submitting for STI. • Coordination with the Rail Division (Rail Planning Unit) will help facilitate railroad support for the projects in the early stages. • Although divisions will have consultants, the Rail Division staff are available as a resource to provide expertise on rail-related environmental/NEPA issues or railroad coordination. Contact: Brian Gackstetter 919-707-4718 begackstetter@ncdot.gov 10 Transportation
Railroad Crossing Roadway Surfaces and Crossing Closures 11 Transportation
Railroad Crossing Roadway Surfaces New Crossing, Widening Project, Crossing Upgrade Rail Division will provide: • Coordination during scoping/public hearing phase • Coordination with the Railroad involving potential conflicts • Recommendations on crossing surface types • Crossing agreement with Railroad for PE/construction • Insurance coordination between Contractor and Railroad • Invoice Review and Approval for Railroad Construction (crossing installation, flagging, etc) 12 Transportation
Railroad Crossing Roadway Surfaces Parallel Encroachment on Railroad Right-of-Way Rail Division will provide: • Coordination during scoping/public hearing phase • Coordination with the Railroad involving potential conflicts • Parallel Encroachment Agreement with Railroad for PE/construction • Insurance coordination between Contractor and Railroad • Reimbursement to Railroad for their costs (PE/flagging etc.) • Potential need for Right of Way Acquisition • Support for railroad section design and requirements (drainage, etc.) 13 Transportation
Railroad Crossing Roadway Surfaces Resurfacing Projects Rail Division will provide: • Early coordination with resurfacing projects is essential • Potential for joint effort to improve crossing • Right of Entry required by railroad to pave in their Right of Way • Flagging will potentially be required for milling/paving on parallel resurfacing projects • Contractor insurance will be required 14 Transportation
Railroad Crossing Roadway Surfaces Other Types of Encroachments • Pipes going under tracks or parallel in railroad right of way • Roadway project ending inside railroad right of way but not touching at-grade crossing ( Potential here to extend project limits to improve crossing ) ** Utility companies will deal directly with the railroads when their facilities cross tracks Contact: Meredith McLamb 919-707-4132 mmclamb@ncdot.gov 15 Transportation
Crossing Closure If at-grade crossing closes as part of project, need the following: • Closure shown on hearing map and in construction plans • End of road markers, guardrail or ditch • Rail Division will execute crossing closure agreement with railroad Contact: Kumar Trivedi 919-707-4109 katrivedi@ncdot.gov 16 Transportation
At-Grade Crossings – Signals and Devices 17 Transportation
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Devices • Rail Division acts on behalf of NCDOT in determining and recommending the sufficiency of traffic control treatments (flashing lights, bells, gates, and medians or any combinations of such) for highway-rail, grade crossings along State roadways • Assists in all facets of planning, engineering, construction, and financing of such treatments 18 Transportation
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Devices Things to Note • Agency must solicit railroad support for work impacting a highway-rail grade crossing • Crossing signal work generally consists of the installation of bells, flashing lights, and gates (or combination of such), and the detection system needed to activate these features • Construction is not typically part of contractor bid-package (exception – medians/ roadway-related work) • Signal construction typically performed by railroad or their contracted forces • Agency must typically reimburse railroad for all expenses railroad incurs 19 Transportation
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Devices Support Provided by Rail Division • Assistance for determining adequacy of traffic control crossing warning devices • Preliminary engineering review of roadway plans for placement of crossing warning devices • Design and engineering of crossing warning devices • Coordination with railroads for design, engineering, and estimates associated with track circuit work • Construction authorization and inspection of crossing signalization work • Reimbursements to railroads for expenses incurred on a State project 20 Transportation
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Devices Crossing Signal Master Agreements State Projects Master Agreements with all Class I and most short line railroads cover engineering, design, construction, and reimbursement for crossing signal work. Municipal and Developer Projects Unless NCDOT is responsible for reimbursing the railroad for crossing work, the NCDOT Master Agreement is not applicable. • Lead agency to negotiate agreements, coordinate with, and reimburse the railroad directly • Rail Signals Unit reviews plans for adequacy of warning devices along the State system 21 Transportation
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Warning Devices Maintenance Reimbursement • Under NC General Statutes, NCDOT is responsible for ½ of expenses incurred by railroad for crossing signal maintenance at SR crossings • Important that Rail Division is kept up-to-date of any changes to the status of a highway- rail crossing and its treatment including those impacted by a roadway improvement project. • Why? Rates and annual payments for maintenance administered by Rail Division 22 Transportation
Crossing Signals Unit Contacts Rail Signals Manager Crossing Project Engineer Chris Bell Richard Mullinax 919-707-4122 919-707-4123 cdbell@ncdot.gov remullinax@ncdot.gov 23 Transportation
Highway Bridges over/under Railroads and Railroad Realignments 24 Transportation
Highway Bridges over Railroad • Railroad coordination will go through Structures Management Unit and the Rail Division • Contact Kevin Fischer with Structures Management Unit 25 Transportation
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