Our traffic engineering expertise in managing railroad traffic near roundabouts was “queued up” at the 5th triennial International Roundabout Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin in early May. Traffic engineers Jeromy Grenard and Hardik Shah showcased our experience on the Ohio River Bridges project with a poster presentation titled, “A Unique Application of Railroad Preemption with Queue Mitigation at a Roundabout Interchange.” Their presentation focused on the use of traffic signals at roundabouts to allow for clearing of railroad tracks prior to a train crossing an at-grade crossing near a roundabout (railroad preemption).  They also explained how the signals are being used to keep traffic flowing at the roundabout while the railroad crossing is activated, minimizing queues and motorist delay that occurs during each rail event (queue mitigation).  This installation is the first of its kind in the United States and has wider implications for application to other roundabouts near rail crossings or where extensive queues require mitigation for short durations during a given day.

 

For more detail regarding Jeromy and Hardik’s design, click here.