Evaluation of Flexible Traffic Separators at Highway–Railroad Grade Crossings Byungkon Ko 1 ; Scott S. Washburn, P.E., M.ASCE 2 ; Kenneth G. Courage 3 ; and H. Michael Dowell, P.E., M.ASCE 4 Abstract: Flexible traffic separator systems, widely used to alert motorists to lane restrictions, have been suggested as relatively inexpensive, easily maintainable countermeasures to discourage motorists from driving around the gates at highway–railroad grade crossings. A flexible traffic separator system was installed and evaluated at three crossings in central Florida using a before and after study. The effectiveness of the separators was determined by the number of vehicles driving around the gates, compared with the number of vehicles having a chance to do so. The effect was significant, in that a total of 25 out of 2,194 vehicles drove around the gates before the separator installation, whereas only one out of 1,246 vehicles was involved in this type of violation after the treatment. The presence of the traffic separators was not shown to have a significant effect on crossing actions of approaching motorists when the gates were descending. There was, however, some evidence that drivers were more inclined to enter the crossing when the gates were ascending after the train passage. DOI: 10.1061/ASCE0733-947X2007133:7397 CE Database subject headings: Accident prevention; Railroad grade crossings; Traffic control devices; Traffic safety. Background Motorists are required by law to stop at highway–railroad grade crossings when the warning devices are operating. Although many crossings are equipped with gates to encourage motorist compliance with the rules, 993 accidents occurred at gated highway–railroad grade crossings in the United States, resulting in 163 fatalities and 308 injuries in the year 2004 Federal Rail- road Administration 2005. With automatic gate systems at cross- ings, it is still possible for a vehicle to enter the crossing by driving around the gates in a two-gate configuration. In an effort to discourage this type of violation, the Florida Department of Transportation FDOT initiated a study to assess the effective- ness of flexible traffic separators at three highway–railroad grade crossing sites in Central Florida. A flexible traffic separator system Qwick Kurb, Inc. 1995 was deployed in this study to deter motorists from driving around cross arms in the down position. The system consists of reflective arcs placed along centerlines, and a series of 1-m flexible chan- nelizers on top of them to create a visual and psychological de- terrent to crossing see Fig. 1. Each channelizer is a Type 3 object marker as described in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices Federal Highway Administration 2003. The manufacturer-purported characteristics of the flexible traffic sepa- rator system listed in the product evaluation report Sneed 1998 are as follows: • Prevents drivers from driving around gates; • Relatively inexpensive, portable, and reusable made out of recycled rubber and polyethylene; • Quick to install and easy to maintain 3 h of installation time; • Cost efficient supplemental safety measure available for pro- posed quiet zones; • No activation needed for each train arrival passive warning devices; • Designed to enable emergency vehicles to cross; and • Bright reflective surface maintaining high visibility at night. It is also noted by the manufacturer that additional marker main- tenance may be necessary on roadways with a high percentage of truck traffic where lanes are less than 3.4 m 11 ft in width. Flexible traffic separators have been installed and evaluated at highway–railroad grade crossings in several other states. In the North Carolina Sealed Corridor Project U.S. Department Of Transportation and FRA 2001, use of traffic separators has re- sulted in a 77% reduction in crossing violations, and the use of four-quadrant gates with the separators has produced a 98% re- duction in crossing violations at the Sugar Creek Road Crossing. In Arkansas Sneed 1998, the traffic separators were installed at the Union Pacific Crossing on 65th Street in the city of Little Rock in 1998. Eight drive-around violations before and two after the treatment were reported for every 20 train crossings. In 1999 and 2000, traffic separators were installed at six crossings and 1 Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Coastal Engineering, Univ. of Florida, 365 Weil Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611. E-mail: kobrain@ ufl.edu 2 Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil and Coastal Engineering, Univ. of Florida, 365 Weil Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611 corresponding author. E-mail: swash@ce.ufl.edu 3 Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Civil and Coastal Engineering, Univ. of Florida, 365 Weil Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611. E-mail: kcourage@ ce.ufl.edu 4 Rail Corridor Programs Engineer, Rail Office, Florida Department of Transportation, 605 Suwannee St., M.S. 25, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0450. E-mail: hollis.dowell@dot.state.fl.us Note. Discussion open until December 1, 2007. Separate discussions must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos- sible publication on September 20, 2005; approved on November 13, 2006. This paper is part of the Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 133, No. 7, July 1, 2007. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-947X/2007/7-397– 405/$25.00. JOURNAL OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING © ASCE / JULY 2007 / 397