(The following story by Andrea King appeared at JournalGroup.com on December 13.)
VAN BUREN, Mich. — Van Buren Township will be the first location in the United States to have retractable barricades at railroad crossings.
The barricades or ‘delineators’ will rise from the pavement at the Denton Road location and discourage drivers from driving around lowered crossing gate arms when a train is approaching, according to Janet Foran, communications specialist for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
“It’s an attempt to better protect motorists and an attempt (to prevent) motorists from going around the lowered crossing gates while a train is approaching,” she said.
The rail barricades, sponsored by MDOT, the Federal Railroad Administration and Norfolk Southern Railway, are part of a federal railroad crossing safety test, which will start this month.
“Right now we’re testing the system and it’s not quite ready to be activated because we’d like to make some adjustments,” said Foran.
However once operational, the delineators will be activated and monitored by cameras for about 17 months until the spring of 2009. The signal activated barricades come up about 3 feet in the centerline, in front of traffic in about six seconds. They are implanted in the road on both east and westbound tracks and, are reflective and equipped with lights for better visibility, according to officials.
“They’re made of flexible plastic propelled by a motor, so let’s say police or an emergency vehicle have to go over them, it would be possible,” said Foran.
Intelligent Perimeter Systems made the traffic control barrier systems, which are housed in self-contained modular cartridges. When a train is approaching, the barricades are electronically deployed at the crossing. The design ensures the system works even if one delineator fails, officials said.
“Considering that accidents at railroad crossings occur approximately every three hours in the United States, it’s critical that these grade crossings have the best safety measures in place in order to prevent tragedies from occurring,” said Mike Korodi, president of Intelligent Perimeter Systems. “With the recent installation of the Denton Road safety project, drivers and pedestrians in this area will be better protected with the assistance of these state-of-the-art safety barriers.”
Foran said Van Buren Township was chosen because Michigan is on the cutting edge of new technology.
“We were looking for a rail crossing that had a high frequency of trains. This area has 20 per day with about 1,000 vehicles per day, plus a good accident history,” she said. “We made arrangements for a grant and worked with Wayne County, who volunteered the intersection for the project.”
Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano said it’s an honor to host the rail safety project since quality of life is paramount in the county.
“Rail barricades are popular in Europe and save lives,” he said. “We’re anxious to see the study results. Any measure to protect families is going to be positive.”
In 2006 alone, there were 72 train and vehicle crashes in Michigan, which resulted in 11 fatalities and 19 injuries. Out of those, 27 accidents occurred at gated crossings, Foran said.
“There are a fair number of people that think they can beat the train so we’re looking to decrease that gate running,” she said.
“The train engineers see that gate running daily. This system is meant to keep railroad crossings safer and hopefully save lives,” she added.
For more information about the barricade safety test system visit www.michigan.gov/mdot or www.ibarrier.com.