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2. Nighttime Closure of a Crossing —The roadway would be closed by the use of <br />some type of barricade(s) that can completely close off the crossing. This <br />would be used only if a part-time quiet zone is requested. The closure must <br />include a process that will verify that a crossing has been closed for the <br />night. Other cities have used an automatic barricade that is locked into place <br />and provides a warning light to the train that the crossing is closed. <br />3. Permanent Closure of the Crossing —This means that the roadway would be <br />closed and barricaded permanently. The railroad signals and surface would <br />be removed. Under the FRA risk computations, the closure allows a credit in <br />the risk assessment that may allow other options at the remaining crossings <br />in the zone. <br />4. Raised Center Medians — Raised center medians a minimum of 60 feet long <br />(100 feet long preferred) are installed to prevent vehicles from driving <br />around the gates. If the median is less than 6 inches tall, traffic delineators <br />are required. If a roadway is of sufficient width, medians are relatively <br />inexpensive to install. The disadvantage of medians is disruption to local <br />access. <br />Four Quadrant Gates — Four quadrant gates are regular railroad gates with <br />two additional gates being added to the exit traffic lanes. This will completely <br />close off the crossing. The exit gates are on a delay that will allow a vehicle to <br />clear the crossing before descending. Traffic loop detectors may be required <br />to detect if a vehicle is stopped on the tracks. The advantage of this SSM is <br />that no additional roadway work is usually needed for the gates to be <br />installed. The disadvantage is that there is a potential to trap a vehicle, they <br />are expensive to install, the City may assume maintenance of the loop <br />detectors and the City may be responsible for the extra maintenance for the <br />extra gates. <br />If SSMs or Risk Index level is insufficient, Alternate Safety Measures (ASM) can be <br />proposed to the FRA for individual crossings. These ASMs can be non -engineering <br />solutions, such as traffic enforcement, photo enforcement, or education programs. <br />Other engineering solutions can be proposed if shown effective in improving safety. <br />These may include different styles of medians or a new type of warning device. A <br />community is required to provide documentation that an ASM is effective. This <br />documentation may require video camera installation, review of police efforts to <br />enforce crossing violations, or a record of public service announcements. The level of <br />documentation is not well defined in the rules. The three most popular ASMs are: <br />1. Photo Enforcement of Traffic Violations —This is a system of cameras that <br />monitor the railroad crossings and will issue traffic tickets to violators. In <br />Minnesota, it is against state law to photo enforce traffic violations. <br />