As the city of Houston is growing, car traffic and rail traffic are also growing. The conflict between the two will be very expensive to resolve.
"Along with freeway traffic volumes, the number of rail cars moving through Houston is expected to grow over time, leading to more pressure to untie some critical spots where railroad tracks and roads intersect," reports Dug Begley.
"The solution is to build overpasses or underpasses in as many places as possible. Eliminate the at-grade crossing and automobile traffic keeps moving while trains can move more efficiently," explains Begley, but the high cost of those projects makes it difficult. One potential source of money, notes Begley, is the federal government, which is "focusing on highway and rail crossings that experience a high volume of rail cars carrying energy products like crude oil and ethanol."
There is another safety concern as well: "Collisions at highway crossings are the second most common cause of deaths along tracks, behind trespasser fatalities that occur mostly when people walk along the tracks and are struck by a train. Last year, 269 people were killed in crossing collisions, the first time in a decade the number of fatalities increased."
FULL STORY: Rail crossings remain a problem and a priority

Houston Apartments To Be Demolished for Freeway Widening
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Four ‘Low-Hanging Fruit’ Zoning Reforms
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San Francisco Just Ended Single-Family Zoning
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Whitefish ADU Ordinance Could Ease Housing Crunch
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San Jose Begins Lowering Speed Limits
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Tucson Development Boom Threatens Displacement of Longtime Residents
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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
City of Rolling Hills Estates
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
City of Apache Junction
City of Helena
Gallatin County, Montana
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