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Yesterday, officials from BNSF Railway Co., the state of South Dakota and city of Sioux Falls marked the closure of the 5,000th grade crossing on the Class I’s network, setting a new national record for crossing closures, according to BNSF.
 
The 69th Street crossing in Sioux Falls is near a new overpass that’s currently under construction.

“We have learned over time that one of the best ways to address grade crossing safety is to reduce the number of at-grade crossings,” said Lyn Hartley, BNSF’s director of public projects, in a prepared statement.

Since a crossing closure program began in 2000, BNSF has worked with various states and communities across its 28-state network to close the 5,000 crossings. Combined with other safety initiatives, the closure program has helped reduce crossing collisions on the network by 70 percent since 1995, according to BNSF. In addition, the Class I has one of the lowest crossing collision rates in the rail industry, BNSF officials said.