Effect of Grade Separation on Pedestrian Railroad Trespass Activity at Shuttlesworth Drive in Collegeville, AL

2019Final report; Jun 2014-Aug 2016Francesco Bedini JacobiniPDFTech ReportDOT-VNTSC-FRA-18-05DOT/FRA/ORD-19/11RR97A7/RJ1K4: RR97A8/RD601TrespassersRailroad grade crossingsPedestriansOverpassesGrade separationsAlabamaUnited StatesUnited States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Railroad Policy and DevelopmentNgamdung, TashiJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Railroad Policy and DevelopmentUnited States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research, Development, and TechnologyNTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail SafetyNTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Railroad Highway Grade CrossingsNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail SafetyVolpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center;Federal Railroad AdministrationThe Volpe Center, under the direction of FRA\u2019s Office of Research, Development, and Technology, conducted a research study to evaluate the effects of closing and replacing the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Drive grade crossing (Crossing ID 352514C) with a vehicular and pedestrian overpass bridge on trespassing along a rail corridor in Birmingham, AL. Trespassing events were coded for 10 hours per day for 5 weekdays before construction of the overpass bridge and then again for approximately 5 months after the opening of the overpass bridge. Results indicate that the rate of trespassers increased by 72 percent, from 44.74 to 76.91 per 100 pedestrians entering the railroad right-of-way, after the construction of the overpass bridge. However, high-risk trespass activities (trespassing during train events and trespassers physically interacting with a train) decreased significantly after the construction of the overpass bridge. Trespassing during train events decreased by 84.3 percent, from 7.05 to 1.10 trespassers per train event, and trespassers physically interacting with a train decreased by 92.6 percent, from 1.62 to 0.12 trespassers per train event after the construction of the overpass bridge.81