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The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s (NCDOT) Rail Division recently completed improvements at three grade crossings.

The division installed crossing signals and gates at two CSX Transportation crossings in Duplin County. Federal funds covered 90 percent of the projects' $345,000 cost, with the state providing the remainder. Seven freight trains travel through the crossings daily at maximum speeds of 40 mph, according to NCDOT.

In addition, the rail division completed signal improvements at a crossing in Durham. The project called for modifying signal controls and installing traffic signals that coordinate with crossing gates and signals.

“The signals now control traffic at the intersections on either side of the tracks,” said Drew Thomas, the division’s crossing safety engineering manager, in a prepared statement. "When trains are detected, the signals go into a special phase that stops all traffic except any that is on the tracks, so those vehicles can flow off the tracks.”

The projects are part of NCDOT’s program designed to add or improve signals and gates at public crossings. Automatic warning devices now are in place at more than 2,400 of the state’s 4,100 public crossings.