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In a Feb. 20 letter to Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters, Association of American Railroads President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger urges the highway administration to immediately act on Transportation Research Board's (TRB) two-year-old recommendations on improving traffic-control devices at grade crossings.

Language drafted by the Railroad Technical Committee of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD) would help reduce the exposure of train crews and other rail workers to crossing safety hazards, Hamberger believes.

TRB recommended that a yield and/or stop sign be installed on crossbucks at passive crossings, and that warning signs be posted to inform motorists they're approaching a crossing with active or passive traffic-control devices.

"AAR was disappointed when the full NCUTCD committee tabled, and failed to approve and recommend to FHWA the language developed by the technical committee," Hamberger wrote. "We perceive that it will be a minimum of one year before the NCUTCD will even consider the issue and the necessary implementation language again. Further improvement to public grade crossings can be made today by implementation of the attached language."