The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently announced a request for information from the public on blocked railroad crossings.  U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind) and Mike Braun (R-Ind) and Congressman Pete Visclosky (D-Ind-1) are urging Hoosiers to provide input to the FRA.
On June 14th, the FRA issued a federal register notice in order to obtain information regarding the frequency, location, and impacts of highway-rail grade crossings blocked by slow-moving or idling trains.  The solicitation notes the potential safety concerns with crossings that are blocked by trains, including that emergency response vehicles may be significantly delayed from responding to an incident or transporting patients to a hospital.
Additionally, the notice states that the FRA proposes to add new dedicated links to its existing website and its existing phone app for users to report blocked crossings, and that this would simplify the reporting of blocked crossing information and standardize the data received.
Congressman Pete Visclosky stated, “I encourage all Northwest Indiana individuals and entities engaged in this critical issue to submit their invaluable information and observations to the FRA.  I appreciate the initiative of the FRA to proactively seek out this information, and I will continue to work through the Congressional appropriations and legislative processes to further improve the capabilities to address blocked railroad crossing issues.”
For additional information on the FRA solicitation or to submit a comment, click here.
Any individual or entity who may need assistance submitting comments to the FRA is encouraged to contact Congressman Visclosky’s Merrillville office at 219-795-1844.