HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Administrator Randy Partington said that the county may take a look at a proposal from the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide more than $573 million in available grant funding this year alone to deal with passive railroad crossings in the United States.
The Railroad Crossing Elimination Program will fund projects that create grade separations, such as overpasses and underpasses, as well as closures, track relocations, and improvement or installation of warning devices at crossings, if related to a separation or relocation project.
Partington said he could be interested in looking over the grant. Currently, Reno County has nearly 40 passive crossings on the BNSF that serves Amtrak. The county has about 205 railroad crossings, both active and passive, among its three railroads. Partington added that the county is always looking for any type of transportation grants for a variety of things.
Incidents this week in Missouri and California including the crash and derailment of Amtrak's Southwest Chief have underscored the tragic consequences of collisions between trains and vehicles that occur throughout the country.
In 2021, there were approximately 2,148 grade crossing incidents, resulting in 236 deaths and 662 injuries.
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