page_title: Level crossing
section_title: Traffic control devices
hierarchical_section_title: Level crossing / Crossings around the world / North America / United States / Traffic control devices
caption_attribution_description: Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train carrying crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken oil field. The lead engine is BNSF 5193 and the second engine is BNSF 1116, which are both General Electric GE C44-9W 4,400 hp (3,281 kW) Diesel-electric locomotives. IMG_20150103_145111
context_page_description: A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road or path, or in rare situations an airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion. Other names include railway level crossing, grade crossing, road through railroad, criss-cross, railroad crossing, train crossing, and RXR.
context_section_description: All public crossings in the United States are required to be marked by at least a crossbuck. The 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices requires passive crossings (crossings without actuated flashing lights or gates) to have either stop signs or yield signs in addition to the crossbuck, unless a flagger will stop traffic every time a train approaches. Normally a yield sign is used, unless it is determined that all vehicles should stop at the crossing, such as a location with poor sight distance. All passive crossings must be upgraded to meet this standard by 31 December 2019.
  If the crossing has more than one railroad track, the crossbuck is required to have a small sign beneath it denoting the number of tracks.
  As traffic on the road crossing or the rail crossing increases, safety features are increased accordingly. More heavily trafficked crossings have "automatic warning devices" (AWDs), with alternately flashing red lights to warn automobile drivers and a bell to warn pedestrians. Additional safety is attained through crossing gates that block automobiles' approach to the tracks when activated. Increasingly, crossings are being fitted with four-quadrant gates to prevent circumventing the gates.
  Operation of a typical AWD-equipped railroad crossing in the United States is as follows:
  About 30 seconds before arriving at the crossing, the train trips a track circuit near the crossing, triggering the crossing signals. The lights begin to flash alternately, and a bell (or bells) mounted at the crossing begins ringing. After several seconds of flashing lights and ringing bells, the crossing gates (if equipped) begin to lower, which usually takes 5–10 seconds. Some AWDs silence the bell once the gates are fully lowered (typically seen on most Norfolk Southern and CSX crossings); most continue ringing the bells throughout (Union Pacific, BNSF Railway). Some crossings will not sound the bell at all after dark in the case that it is installed near a residential area. The lights continue to flash throughout regardless.
  About 15–20 seconds before arriving at the crossing, the train begins ringing its bell and sounding its horn in accordance with NORAC rule 14L or GCOR rule 5.8.2(7): two longs, one short, and one long. These are prolonged or repeated until the engine occupies the crossing. If the AWD is equipped with a wayside horn in accordance with FRA Quiet Zone rules, the AWD may provide the whistle signal instead of the train; however, the train is required to ring its bell regardless.
  After the train has cleared the crossing, the bells (if silenced) may begin ringing again (such as the Florida East Coast Railway), and the gates (if equipped) begin to rise. Once the gates have completely risen back to their fully raised position, all warning signals, including the lights and bells, are suppressed.
  Some AWD track circuits are equipped with motion detectors that deactivate the crossing signal if the train stops or slows significantly before arriving at the crossing.
  As indicated above, the pattern of the bells at each individual crossing can be different. (These bells should not be confused with the bells that are mounted on the trains.) Generally, the bells follow one of these patterns:
  The bell begins ringing when the lights begin flashing and stops when the gates have completely lowered.
  The bell begins ringing when the lights begin flashing and stops when the gates begin to go up following the passing of the train.
  The bell begins ringing when the lights begin flashing and stops when the gates have completely lowered, and then resumes ringing when the gates begin to go up, until the gates have returned to their original position.
  The bell begins ringing until the train arrives at the crossing, then resumes as soon as the train exits the crossing, this is used exclusively on the BNSF Racetrack.
  The final, and most common, practice is for the bells to begin ringing when the lights begin flashing and continue until the gates have gone up after the train passes.
  Some level crossings that are located close to intersecti
caption: Channelized pedestrian-bicycle crossing in Bellingham, Washington
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