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The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) recently authorized upgrades to seven grade crossings as part of a statewide crossing safety program.

The commission instructed Norfolk Southern Railway and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. (W&LE) to begin engineering work on three of the upgrades. W&LE will replace crossbucks with electronic flashing lights and gates at crossings in Solon and Massillion; NS will upgrade equipment electronics and add gates to existing flashing lights at a crossing near Youngstown.

ORDC also authorized NS, W&LE and the Indiana & Ohio Railroad Co. to replace crossbuck signs with flashing warning lights, gates and other warning devices at four crossings in three counties.

The upgrades target seven of 19 crossings ORDC has identified as priority projects. Since the state launched a crossing safety program in the mid-1990s, ORDC has upgraded 1,250 of Ohio’s 6,000 public crossings.