By Brandon Moseley
Monday, Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL07) sent a letter to Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Deputy Administrator Amit Bose urging swift action to address blocked railroad crossings in Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. She also sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg inviting him to visit the district to see first-hand how rail crossing blockages impact small businesses, students, and community members.
“Our communities in the 7th District continue to suffer from unacceptable train blockages that put public safety at risk and make life more difficult for my constituents,” said Rep. Sewell. “I am working with the Biden Administration to find long-term solutions at the federal level, but in the meantime, swift action is urgently needed to solve the current crisis. It is my hope that continued cooperation on the federal, state, and local level will prompt much-needed action.”
This has been an area of ongoing concern for Rep. Sewell. In December 2019, the FRA launched a Blocked Crossing Incident Reporter website where the public and law enforcement can report the date, time, location, and duration that a crossing was blocked. The agency intends to use the data collected to achieve a better understanding of the location, duration, and impacts of blocked crossings.
In 2018, Sewell co-authored a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a report on the impact of longer freight trains and blocked railroad crossings.
Some of the suggestions in that resulting GAO report were included in President Joe Biden’s (D) bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed the House of Representatives on Friday, Nov. 5th, 2021. Sewell was also a strong advocate for the rail funding in the legislation, which includes $5 billion for rail improvements and safety grants, as well as the $3 billion for grade crossing safety improvements to help resolve the rail crossing blockages that have impacted underserved communities for too long.
Sewell’s office said that Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act contains several provisions that address blocked railroad crossings:
The Railroad Crossing Elimination Program would authorize $500 million a year for the new Railroad Crossing Elimination grant program which includes a small set-aside to carry out a highway-rail grade crossing safety information and education program.
Blocked Crossing Portal would require the Federal Railroad Administration to establish a blocked crossing portal to collect information about blocked highway-rail grade crossings from the public.
National Academies Study on Trains Longer Than 7,500 Feet requires the Secretary to spend between $1 million and $2 million on a report by the National Academies on the operations, safety, and efficiency of trains longer than 7,500 feet, to be submitted to Congress within two years.
Railroad point of contact for public safety issues requires all railroads to provide contact information on a public website so that the public could report public safety issues to the railroad.
