Guidelines for selecting and installing active traffic control devices are beneficial to the practising engineer who has responsibility for field installation and operation. This paper reports on a portion of the field installation and evaluation of two active traffic control devices for use at railroad-highway grade crossings. As a result, guidelines were developed for the use of a four-quadrant gate system and a highway traffic signal system for use at selected railroad-highway grade crossings. The characteristics of crossings that would be conducive to the use of a four-quadrant gate system and a highway traffic signal system were defined, with the objective of improving safety for the travelling public at the crossings. A four-quadrant gate system should be viewed as being between a standard gate system and a grade-separated crossing in terms of providing a level of safety to the travelling public. There are railroad-highway grade crossings that would {not be economically feasible to grade separate, but a four-quadrant gate system would be cost-effective. Similarly, there are specific types of crossings that would receive a higher level of safety with the use of a highway traffic signal system and the upgrade would be cost-effective. The guidelines presented address the characteristics of the different types of crossings that would be appropriately served by these two active traffic control systems.
Abstract