$100 million plan announced to improve dangerous railroad crossings in Oklahoma

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm not sure how big of an issue this is, but I don't know much about the conditions of railroad crossings in the state.

OKLAHOMA CITY —The state announced a project to improve the safety of Oklahoma’s most dangerous railroad crossings Tuesday. The $100 million plan will pay for new lights, crossing arms and signs.

There are no crossing arms at a railroad crossing at NW 92nd Street near Western Avenue. Miayi Mathis and Loyce Adeymi died instantly when a train hit the car they were in at the crossing. Six other lives were also lost last year at railroad crossings in Oklahoma.

“We must do a better job as a state to protect our citizens at these rail crossings, and that is what this plan will do,” said Gov. Mary Fallin at a press conference Tuesday.

For the next several months, all of Oklahoma’s 3,700 railroad crossings will be checked. The 300 deemed the most dangerous will get safety upgrades.

Lights and bells aren’t enough to stop many cars. Steve Curtis sees it at the track next to his business on an almost daily basis.

Read more: $100 million plan announced to improve dangerous railroad crossings in Oklahoma | Oklahoma City - OKC - KOCO.com

Also, here's a link from The Edmond Sun: http://www.edmondsun.com/news/articl...9bb2963f4.html

Here's from Channel 4: http://kfor.com/2014/08/26/oklahoma-...r-for-drivers/

Journal Record: http://journalrecord.com/2014/08/26/...sings-capitol/

Norman Transcript: http://www.normantranscript.com/news...9bb2963f4.html

[Spartan]

Too late for the quiet zone.

[Servicetech571]

Why spend $100M trying to fix stupid? People SEE the lights but choose to ignore them.

[kelroy55]

Why spend $100M trying to fix stupid? People SEE the lights but choose to ignore them.

If you make things idiot proof they just bring on bigger idiots.

[jerrywall]

There are crossings in Oklahoma without lights at all...

[kelroy55]

Growing up in Nebraska most of the crossing on country roads didn't have lights but we were smart enough to stop and look. Train vs. car .... train wins every time.

[Servicetech571]

There are crossings in Oklahoma without lights at all...

Typically way out on the middle of nowhere. The RR crossing is the only thing you see for miles. Don't see a lot of accidents happening out there.

[jerrywall]

Typically way out on the middle of nowhere. The RR crossing is the only thing you see for miles. Don't see a lot of accidents happening out there.

Well, unless they've upgraded it, there is one on the way into Jones, just outside of town. Always made me nervous driving out there (although it's been a while).

All this "idiots deserve to die" nonsense makes me laugh. I mean, there are rules that cover what folks should do at a 4-way intersection without signage.. maybe we should stop putting up stop signs or lights on those and see how well that works... I mean, people should be smart enough to slow down and yield as necessary, right?

To me, watching for the arms are a trained and unconscious behavior. If the majority or entirety of your driving encompassed driving through train intersections with arms, those have become your warning signs. So I could see someone not thinking about it and assuming it's safe because the arms aren't down (they may not even realize that the crossing has no arms). There also might be some visibility issues at some of these intersections.

[jerrywall]

“Many of these crossings have only rail crossing signs that can sometimes be faint, or either faint pavement markings,” Fallin said. “There are some that have no flashing lights or arms.”
That’s a problem, said Transportation Secretary Gary Ridley, because “the driver of the vehicle is totally dependent on the warning devices.”
He estimates that more than half of the crossings across the state do not have lights, gates or arms.

To me... this is the big paragraph.... that there are crossings with no signs, lights, gates, and the only warning are faint pavement markings. And I don't see the problem... this is an almost fully funded initiative.

[Servicetech571]

People generally know where railroad tracks are, it's not like you're driving down the road and they pop out of nowhere.

Why are the taxpayers getting the bill for this instead of the railroads?