The Commission's Rail Crossings Engineering Section administers three funding programs for reducing hazards at highway-rail crossings:
Section 130
The Section 130 Grade Crossing Improvement Program provides funds to local governments (cities and counties) and railroads to eliminate hazards at existing at-grade public highway-rail crossings.
CPUC expects to publish revised Section 130 Guidelines in May 2013. For details, please contact Bree Arnett at 916-928-2516 or bree.arnett@cpuc.ca.gov
Maintenance Fund
The Railroad Crossing Maintenance Fund provides funds to railroads to pay for the local government's share of the costs of maintaining highway-rail crossing automatic warning devices.
For more information, contact Maria E. Cardenas, assigned staff at 916-928-3807 or maria.cardenas@cpuc.ca.gov
Section 190 Grade Separation Program
Call for projects for Fiscal Years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014
The Section 190 Grade Separation Program provides funds to public agencies to grade-separate existing at-grade crossings, or to improve existing grade-separated crossings. The current priority list for fiscal year 2011-2012 was adopted in the CPUC’s interim Decision D.12-06-021, dated June 21, 2012.
On July 28, 2011, the CPUC issued an Order Instituting Investigation (OII) for establishing the highway-rail Grade Separation Priority List (Priority List) for fiscal year 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The next call for projects is tentatively set for July 2013.
The California Transportation Commission and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) use the Priority List to allocate funds made available to the program to assist local governments in financing existing crossings at grade of city streets, county roads, or state highways in need of separation, or existing separations in need of alterations or reconstruction, in accordance with Section 2452 of the California Streets and Highways Code. The list, which is usually created every two years, establishes the relative priorities for funding qualified projects to grade separate railroad crossings or improve existing grade-separated crossings.
Currently qualified projects on the current fiscal year 2012-2013 priority list need to make a separate allocation application to Caltrans by April 1, 2013 to be considered for funding. See Appendix 1 of the OII I.11-07-022.
It is anticipated that the final Commission Decision in this proceeding, including the approved Priority List for fiscal year 2013-2014, will be issued in May or June 2013. Those projects indicated by Caltrans which have received an allocation for fiscal year 2012-2013 will be removed from the list with the new ranking reflecting their removal.
CPUC staff maintains a list of basic information about Caltrans funding allocations for Section 190 grade separation projects.
For more information, contact Rosa Muñoz at (213)576-7078 or rosa.munoz@cpuc.ca.gov