HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 - On-Site Engineering Field Report - Part 1
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Railroad Administration
Office of Safety RRS-23
Highway Rail Crossing and Trespasser Program Division
ON-SITE ENGINEERING FIELD REPORT — Part 1
All Aboard Florida
Background:
FRA Headquarters, in conjunction with the Region 3 office, assisted in the diagnostic safety
review of the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway grade crossings between Miami-Dade to St. Lucie
counties. This is due to High Speed Passenger Rail service being planned between Miami and
Orlando, known as "All Aboard Florida". Beginning February 4, 2014 and ending on March 7, 2014,
a total of 263 public and private grade crossings were assessed. Participants included officials from
Florida Depai tment of Transportation (FDOT), FEC, All Aboard Florida (AAF); including local city
and county officials at some locations.
For the purposes of this report, Part 1 represents the diagnostic review taken place from
Miami-Dade to St. Lucie Counties. Part 2 designates the diagnostic review from Indian River County
to Cocoa Beach, which is expected to occur in mid -to -late June 2014. There are approximately 90
grade crossings in Part 2. The segment between Cocoa Beach and Orlando will be designed for 125
MPH, however, AAF will not be traversing over any at-grade crossings along that rail corridor.
Scope:
Crossing locations between Miami to north of West Palm Beach are being designed for a
maximum authorized speed of 79 MPH. The 110 MPH segment begins/ends at 30th Street in West
Palm Beach (milepost 297.40), and continues through the Private Road Crossing in Indrio (milepost
233.90). Within the 110 MPH segment, train speeds are lowered to conventional rail limits where
civil constraints exist; such as curves or draw bridges, which are noted on the accompanying field
design plans.
Currently the design plans are at 30%. The next reiteration will be at 90%. Therefore, the
decisions for the grade crossing signaling equipment and warning devices will be determined fairly
soon.
The existing crossing signaling equipment contain a mix of signal cases and relay houses,
equipped with either Phase Motion Detectors (PMD-1) or HXP 3R2's highway crossing processors.
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Each crossing location will eventually consist of relay houses equipped with GE Transportation's
ElectroLoglXS XP4 for constant warning time as part of this project For 110 MPH, the crossing
circuits beyond the 79 MPH standard will utilize a GE device linked through the PTC system for the
advanced crossing starts. The technology will diagnose a health check to determine whether or not
all roadway/pedestrian gates are in the down position.
Results:
Of the 263 grade crossings in Part 1, there are 57 crossing locations affected for Sealed
Corridor treatments within the 110 MPH territory. Officials from All Aboard Florida passenger rail
project (herein the "Project") have openly expressed that the proposed 110 MPH segment will NOT
incorporate the "Sealed Corridor" concept as outlined in FRA's Highway-Rail Grade Crossing
Guidelines for High-Speed Passenger Rail, Version 1.0 (November 2009). They stated that since
these are "guidelines, not regulations" as quoted on page iii, in which they are not obligated to
incorporate any of the described crossing treatments as illustrated in the document. The Project
estimates that in doing so would incur an additional financial burden of about $47 mil.
In my professional opinion, I respectfully disagree with the Project's approach in that they
are not exercising appropriate safety practices and reasonable care when designing for High Speed
Passenger Rail service. I explained to the entire diagnostic team how important it was to adopt the
principles of the Sealed Corridor approach. However, it was clearly evident that the Project was not
pursuing such concept
As a result, the Project has directed their signaling engineering consultants to design
crossings to ONLY accommodate for the additional track while complying with the MUTCD - but not
to incorporate any of the Sealed Corridor treatments. Furthermore, since there is a completely
different philosophical view towards safety between the Project and I, the accompanying marked-
up design plans and field notes are notably different from the Project's design plans; particularly
along the 110 MPH segment. The Project has been maintaining a running log noting my Sealed
Corridor recommendations.
Officials from FDOT's Rail Office are not taking a position, one way or the other, at this time.
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Safety Recommendations:
The following are recommendations made to the Project based upon my on-site field assessments
during the diagnostic safety review:
A. Pedestrian gates - there are certain locations along the corridor in which sidewalks are
present on both sides of the railroad right-of-way, but do not follow through. Some of these
sidewalks do not comply with today's ADA's standards, however pedestrian travel is
evident due to the worn foot path on the surface, and general witnessing of usage. Typically
the roadway gate covers the entrance side of the adjacent sidewalk, but there are no
pedestrian gates on the opposite quadrants. The Project stated if there is no agreement
with the city or county for the service and maintenance of a pedestrian gate assembly, they
will not install them.
Trespassing is an epidemic along this corridor. Rather than encourage it, it is recommended
per my field notes at those particular locations to equip sidewalk approaches with a visual
and gated barrier. This is to provide safe passage of pedestrians through a very active rail
line and prevents those from walking into an open railway corridor; or directing them onto
the street - irrespective if there is an agreement or not.
B. Vehicle Presence Detection - for those public and private crossings between 80-110 MPH
in Part 1 to be equipped with a Vehicle Presence Detection ("VPD") system. The entire FEC
corridor is equipped with Cab Signaling control. Presence detection will serve as a long term
obstacle system, where the presence of a vehicle within the crossing area for a fixed length
of time would be reported as an alarm through the remote monitoring system, irrespective
of the approach of a train. Subsequently, for those 3-Quadrant and 4-Quadrant gated grade
crossings between 80 -110 MPH (as identified further below), it is recommended that either
through the activation of a loop detector and/or a vertical exit gate (indicating a roadway
vehicle is occupying the crossing) that a vehicle is detected by the train as a "feedback loop"
of information; resulting in a loss of cab-signals, thus placing the train in an automatic speed
restriction.
Motor vehicles stalled, or trapped on a crossing due to queuing, present a derailment
hazard; and in multiple track territory or where freight equipment is standing on adjacent
sidings or industry tracks, derailments can result in catastrophic secondary collisions.
Therefore, presence detection providing feedback to the train control system to high speed
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trains traveling along this FEC corridor be active in order to minimize the possibility of
derailments as well.
Recommending a VPD system is due to the following safety reasons:
1. Field observations with vehicular traffic stopping on tracks
2. Safety concerns expressed by city, county and FDOT officials
3. Several crossings with reduced or no vehicle clearance at roadway T-intersections
4. Vehicles yielding to oncoming traffic while on tracks at non-signalized T-
intersections
5. Motorists / Commercial Vehicles queuing over tracks due to 4-way stop
intersection, and vehicles entering adjacent driveways and parking lots
6. The multiple track surfaces enables motorists to make U-turns or cut thru's easier
7. Severely skewed crossings
8. Acute-angled crossings with main gates perpendicular to the vehicular roadway
C. Sealed Corridor Treatments - the following grade crossing locations arc the
recommended Sealed Corridor Treatments required by the Project to install:
Four -Quadrant Gates (also referred as exit gates) (41)
Street Name City/Town Milepost DOT #
30 th Street West Palm Beach 297.40 272 406 1
Inlet Blvd. Rivera Beach 295.45 272 400 T
Flagler Street Rivera Beach 295.15 272 399 B
Silver Beach Road Lake Park 293.75 272 389 V
Park Ave Lake Park 293.30 272 387 G
Richard Road Palm Beach Gardens 292.20 272 385 T
Lighthouse Drive Palm Beach Gardens 291.70 272 384 L
RCA Blvd. Palm Beach Gardens 290.30 272 382 X
Fred Small Road Jupiter 286.20 273 020 P
Toney Penna Dr. * Jupiter 284.20 272 378 H
Gleason Street Hobe Sound 274.50 272 367 V
Bridge Road Hobe Sound 274.10 272 366 N
Pettway Street Hobe Sound 272.70 272 365 G
Crossrip Street Salerno 271.40 272 362 L
Osprey Street Salerno 270.90 272 934 K
Cove Road Salerno 267.14 272 359 D
Broward Street Salerno 266.80 272 358 W
Salerno Road Salerno 266.60 272 357 P
Seaward Street ** Salerno 266.50 272 356 H
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Monterey Road Stuart 263.30 272 353 M
SR AlA Stuart 262.50 272 350 S
Florida Street Stuart 262.30 272 349 X
Palmetto Drive Rio 257.40 272 342 A
Jenson Beach Blvd. Rio 256.80 272 340 L
Pitchford Land** Rio 256.20 272 338 K
Skyline Drive Rio 255.50 272 337 D
County Line Road Rio 255.30 272 336 W
Walton Road Walton 252.50 272 332 U
Midway Road Walton 246.30 272 331 M
Savannah Road Fort Pierce 243.80 272 330 F
No. Bch. Causeway Indrio j 239.80 272 218 U
Shimoner Ln. *** lndrio 239.50 272 217 M
Tarmac Road*** lndrio 239.20 272 215 Y
St. Lucie Lane Indrio 238.80 272 214 S
Chamberlain Blvd. lndrio 238.40 272 213 K
Milton Road lndrio 237.80 272 211 W
Torpey Road lndrio 237.10 272 210 P
Rouse Road Indrio 236.70 272 209 V
Michigan Street Indrio 236.10 272 208 N
Wilcox Road lndrio 235.60 272 207 G
Harbor Branch Rd Indrio 235.10 272 206 A
* - Last crossing location (northbound) for proposed Tri-Rail service
** - Recommend to be CLOSED
*** - Private Crossing
100-foot Non-traversable Medians * (7)
Street Name City/Town Milepost DOT #
is 36 Street West Palm Beach 297.10 272 405 C
45 th Street West Palm Beach 296.65 272 403 N
49 th Street West Palm Beach 296.30 272 240 G
County Line Road Hobe Sound 280.90 272 372 S
Park Road Hobe Sound 277.70 272 370 D
SR AlA ** Salerno 268.65 272 360 X
Avenue A Fort Pierce 241.30 272 238 F
* Please note: if for any reason the Project and the respective municipality cannot agree on
the median treatment, then those location(s) be equipped with exit gates.
** Medians to he at least 150-feet each approach due to severe roadway skew.
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Three -Quadrant Gates (due to a median present on the opposite side) (6)
Street Name City/Town Milepost DOT #
Blue Heron Blvd. Rivera Beach 294.90 272 390 P
Burns Road Palm Beach Gardens 290.80 272 383 E
Hood Road Palm Beach Gardens 288.50 272 380 J
Donald Ross Road Palm Beach Gardens 287.20 272 379 P
lndiantown Road Jupiter 283.60 272 377 B
Orange Avenue Fort Pierce 241.50 272 239 M
Private (6 locations within 110 MPH)
Street Name City/Town Milepost DOT #
Miracle Way * Rio 257.10 272 341 T
Pitchford Lnd ** Rio 256.20 272 338 K
Shimoner Ln lndrio 239.50 272 217 M
Tarmac Road ** lndrio 239.20 272 215 Y
Private Road * Indrio 234.50 272 205 T
Private Road * lndrio 233.90 272 204 L
*- Recommend locked gate with procedures seeking permission from R.R. dispatch to cross.
**- Recommend the Project to equip with Four-Quadrant Gates (including VPD)
Closed (17) Please note: Officials from the city or county are not taking a position, one
way or the other, at this time.
Street Name City/Town Milepost DOT #
179 th Street Aventura 353.60 272 602 R
141 st Street * North Miami Beach 356.12 272 609 N
Third Street Hallandale 350.30 272 591 F
Monroe Street Hollywood 349.03 272 588 X
Fillmore Street Hollywood 348.52 272 585 C
Garfield Street Hollywood 348.07 272 582 G
Dania Blvd * Dania Beach 345.94 272 574 P
First Street * Dania Beach 345.81 272 573 H
22 nd Street Fort Lauderdale 342.96 272 566 X
D 9i Street Fort Lauderdale 341.80 272 661 N
6 th Street * Fort Lauderdale 341.56 272 559 M
5 th Street * Fort Lauderdale 341.45 272 558 F
g od Street Pompano Beach 333.31 272 534 5
4th Street Deerfield Beach 327.41 272 513 Y
2"d Street Deerfield Beach 326.81 272 511 K
Hunter Street West Palm Beach 303.18 272 450 W
Seaward Street Salerno 266.50 272 356 H
*- or possible one-way
"- only crossing to be closed along 110 MPH segment
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Conclusion:
Based upon my professional background and experience in regards to grade crossing safety,
I strongly recommend officials from All Aboard Florida to adhere to the principles as outlined in the
FRA's guidelines for Emerging High-Speed Rail (80-110 MPH). In doing so incorporates the
optimum safety practices in the engineering and design of their crossing locations for the following
reasons:
I. The operating dynamics are significantly changing within the existing environment of
the grade crossings, along with an already an active freight operation that will include:
The addition of 16 round-trip trains (32 total) at 110 MPH
The eventual inclusion of Tri-rail Commuter Rail service, which will add 74 trains.
Changing from single track to multiple track configurations.
II. Densely settled neighborhoods with congested roadways
Ill. As many as 5 traffic lanes in the oncoming direction at T-intersections
In summary, as the travelling public begins to assimilate to a substantial increase in railroad
operations - by incorporating enhanced railroad signaling technology and increased active highway
warning devices are paramount to ensuring safety awareness as both entities interact with one
another. Therefore, equipping crossing locations with the recommended actions, as outlined above
in this report, will dramatically reduce potential safety hazards and catastrophic events.
Report Respectfully Submitted By:
Frank A. Frey, Gen. Engineer-HSR
Federal Railroad Administration I U.S. DOT
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
RRS-23 I W33-447
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 493-0130
iPhone (202) 738-2195
frank.frey@dot.gov
March 20, 2014
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