Presents a review of the current practices associated with the operation of traffic signals at intersections located near highway-rail grade crossings.

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) prepared this report to reflect the current state-of-the-practice and to provide the user with a broad overview of key considerations for the preemption of traffic signals near railroad grade crossings. Where a signalized intersection exists in close proximity to a railroad crossing and either queues from the intersection impact the crossing or queues from the crossing impact the intersection, the railroad signal control equipment and the highway traffic signal control equipment should be interconnected. The normal operation of the traffic signals controlling the intersection should be preempted to operate in a special control mode when trains are approaching. This proposed recommended practice was written primarily for an audience of engineers working for public agencies, railroads, and public transit agencies engaged in signal design and operational timing. The objective of this proposed revision is to include new information on the design and operation of traffic signal preemption that has been learned since the previous edition was published.

Research was conducted to identify and evaluate innovative active warning devices with potential for improving safety at railroad-highway grade crossings. Candidate devices were identified and/or developed, and the most promising devices were evaluated in a detailed laboratory study. Three of the devices were chosen for field evaluation: (1) four-quadrant gates with skirts and flashing light signals; (2) four-quadrant flashing light signals with overhead strobes; and (3) highway traffic signals with white bar strobes in all red lenses. The report documents the methodology and results of the field evaluations, presents a summary of the research leading up to the field evaluations, and presents the results of benefit-cost analyses for the innovative devices and guidelines for their implementation.