Abstract Manager

At-grade crossings are the boundaries where a local jurisdiction meets the right-of-way of the railway company. As such, each party has a shared responsibility at the grade crossing to ensure it is safe for all road users, in compliance with the Transport Canada Grade Crossing Regulations and Standards.  This means that the parties must meet the standard guidelines on the typical sightlines, geometry, road approach and crossing surface. The City of Vancouver explored additional strategies that would further enhance a road user’s awareness at a grade crossing.

Although standard guidelines sound like a relatively straight forward concept, the City has to navigate through the challenges of ambiguous historical agreements and try to foster collaboration and work within the limitations of an existing road network.  Ultimately, the goal of the City is to continuously improve a program that promotes holistic rail safety through a combination of engineering, education and technology. Some examples include the use of road closures, digital message boards to notify road users of a blocked train crossing event and ground decals near grade crossings.

In order to understand the extent of improvements required at each crossing, a general methodology was used to assess the existing site conditions, coordinate with other departments to gain an understanding of future development driven opportunities, and partner with external agencies to explore measures to notify road users of the presence of a train. Although not every measure resulted in a success, it provided valuable lessons learned and is still a step forward on to the right track in grade crossing rail safety.