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Burlington Northern Santa Fe is almost two-thirds of the way to meeting its goal of closing 420 grade crossings this year. Through July, the Class I closed 248 crossings, surpassing its seven-month goal by three.

More than 60 crossings currently are scheduled to be closed and another 60 are "under contract" for removal, BNSF officials said.

"This is the first time since the beginning of the program that we've hit our target every month," said Lyn Hartley, BNSF director of public projects, in a prepared statement.

Under a crossing closure program, a BNSF team identifies closure candidates, and works with state and local officials to permanently remove crossings. Since the program was launched in late 1999, the railroad has closed more than 2,200 redundant, unnecessary or little-used crossings.