Sponsored by:
Assemblyman KEVIN J. ROONEY
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires installation of safety gates, lights, and other safety upgrades at certain railroad crossings.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning railroad and highway safety and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the New Jersey Transit Corporation and each county in the State, shall establish a program to construct and maintain active grade crossing warning systems at railroad grade crossings throughout the State.
b. The program established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) the department shall maintain and annually publish a list of all railroad grade crossings in the State with information on whether active grade crossing warning systems are in place and functioning at each railroad grade crossing;
(2) within 10 years of the effective date of this act, the department shall install warning gates and flashing safety lights at each railroad grade crossing in the State. The department shall prioritize upgrades to the most dangerous railroad grade crossings and shall assign each railroad grade crossing a rating based on this prioritization; and
(3) within five years of the effective date of this act, the department shall install warning gates and flashing safety lights at all railroad grade crossings within 75 feet of a traffic control signal and shall also install devices or technology that provide connectivity between the traffic control signals and the active grade crossing warning systems to reduce the likelihood of collisions between motor vehicles and trains and other rail vehicles. The department shall prioritize upgrades to the most dangerous railroad grade crossings near traffic control signals and shall assign each railroad grade crossing near a traffic control signal a rating based on this prioritization.
c. The department, in conjunction with the New Jersey Transit Corporation and each county in the State, shall periodically inspect the active grade crossing warning system safety equipment at railroad grade crossings to confirm that the equipment is working properly.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the New Jersey Transit Corporation and each county in the State, to establish a program to provide active grade crossing warning systems at railroad grade crossings in the State. Under the program, the department is to maintain and annually publish a list of all railroad grade crossings in the State with information on the grade crossing warning systems in place and functioning at each railroad grade crossing. The department is also required to install warning gates and flashing safety lights at each railroad grade crossing in the State within 10 years and, within the first five years, is required to install warning gates, flashing lights, and devices that provide connectivity between the traffic control signal and active grade crossing warning system at each railroad grade crossing within 75 feet of an intersection with a traffic control signal.