Design & Construction Standards

Traffic and Safety Resources

Railroad-Highway Crossings

Approximately 219 public at-grade railroad-highway crossings exist on Alaska’s roads and highways.  Additional crossings exist on private lands.  Railroad companies and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) share responsibility for maintaining and providing traffic control devices at public crossings. 

Alaska has two railroads:

• The Alaska Railroad (ARR), which runs approximately 650 miles from Seward to Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, and
• The historic White Pass-Yukon Railroad, which runs from Skagway to the international border with British Columbia—about 20 miles--and on to Carcross, Yukon Territory, a total of 67 miles. 

The Alaska Traffic Manual (ATM) gives guidance for selection of traffic control devices for at-grade railroad-highway crossings and refers to the DOT&PF/ARR Policy on Railroad/Highway Crossings, which defines a process for further analysis.

The Federal Railroad Administration maintains an inventory of public railroad-highway crossings, with the cooperation of states and railroads.

Train/vehicle collisions in Alaska have declined significantly since the early 1980s.

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Related Links

• Alaska Policy on Railroad/Highway Crossing
• Inventory of Public At-Grade Motor Vehicle Crossings
• Alaska Rail-Highway Crossing Accident Experience
• Alaska Traffic Manual, see Part VIII Traffic Control Systems for Railroad-Highway Grade Crossing
• Railroad-Highway Grade Crossing Handbook 2007
• Railroad Coordination and Certification Requirements
• Guidance: RR-Hwy Crossings Within or Near Project Limits
• Grade Crossing Improvement Guidance - 23 CFR 646.214
• Railroad Coordination and Certification for Traffic Control Devices -- Maintenance Activities
• FHWA Office of Safety - Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing
• Alaska Railroad Corporation
• White Pass-Yukon Railroad