Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 097-0374
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Public Act 097-0374


 

Public Act 0374 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 097-0374
 
HB1573 EnrolledLRB097 07833 HEP 47947 b

    AN ACT concerning transportation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing
Section 18c-7401 as follows:
 
    (625 ILCS 5/18c-7401)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7401)
    Sec. 18c-7401. Safety Requirements for Track, Facilities,
and Equipment.
    (1) General Requirements. Each rail carrier shall,
consistent with rules, orders, and regulations of the Federal
Railroad Administration, construct, maintain, and operate all
of its equipment, track, and other property in this State in
such a manner as to pose no undue risk to its employees or the
person or property of any member of the public.
    (2) Adoption of Federal Standards. The track safety
standards and accident/incident standards promulgated by the
Federal Railroad Administration shall be safety standards of
the Commission. The Commission may, in addition, adopt by
reference in its regulations other federal railroad safety
standards, whether contained in federal statutes or in
regulations adopted pursuant to such statutes.
    (3) Railroad Crossings. No public road, highway, or street
shall hereafter be constructed across the track of any rail
carrier at grade, nor shall the track of any rail carrier be
constructed across a public road, highway or street at grade,
without having first secured the permission of the Commission;
provided, that this Section shall not apply to the replacement
of lawfully existing roads, highways and tracks. No public
pedestrian bridge or subway shall be constructed across the
track of any rail carrier without having first secured the
permission of the Commission. The Commission shall have the
right to refuse its permission or to grant it upon such terms
and conditions as it may prescribe. The Commission shall have
power to determine and prescribe the manner, including the
particular point of crossing, and the terms of installation,
operation, maintenance, use and protection of each such
crossing.
    The Commission shall also have power, after a hearing, to
require major alteration of or to abolish any crossing,
heretofore or hereafter established, when in its opinion, the
public safety requires such alteration or abolition, and,
except in cities, villages and incorporated towns of 1,000,000
or more inhabitants, to vacate and close that part of the
highway on such crossing altered or abolished and cause
barricades to be erected across such highway in such manner as
to prevent the use of such crossing as a highway, when, in the
opinion of the Commission, the public convenience served by the
crossing in question is not such as to justify the further
retention thereof; or to require a separation of grades, at
railroad-highway grade crossings; or to require a separation of
grades at any proposed crossing where a proposed public highway
may cross the tracks of any rail carrier or carriers; and to
prescribe, after a hearing of the parties, the terms upon which
such separations shall be made and the proportion in which the
expense of the alteration or abolition of such crossings or the
separation of such grades, having regard to the benefits, if
any, accruing to the rail carrier or any party in interest,
shall be divided between the rail carrier or carriers affected,
or between such carrier or carriers and the State, county,
municipality or other public authority in interest. However, a
public hearing by the Commission to abolish a crossing shall
not be required when the public highway authority in interest
vacates the highway. In such instance the rail carrier,
following notification to the Commission and the highway
authority, shall remove any grade crossing warning devices and
the grade crossing surface.
    The Commission shall also have power by its order to
require the reconstruction, minor alteration, minor relocation
or improvement of any crossing (including the necessary highway
approaches thereto) of any railroad across any highway or
public road, pedestrian bridge, or pedestrian subway, whether
such crossing be at grade or by overhead structure or by
subway, whenever the Commission finds after a hearing or
without a hearing as otherwise provided in this paragraph that
such reconstruction, alteration, relocation or improvement is
necessary to preserve or promote the safety or convenience of
the public or of the employees or passengers of such rail
carrier or carriers. By its original order or supplemental
orders in such case, the Commission may direct such
reconstruction, alteration, relocation, or improvement to be
made in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as may
be reasonable and necessary and may apportion the cost of such
reconstruction, alteration, relocation or improvement and the
subsequent maintenance thereof, having regard to the benefits,
if any, accruing to the railroad or any party in interest,
between the rail carrier or carriers and public utilities
affected, or between such carrier or carriers and public
utilities and the State, county, municipality or other public
authority in interest. The cost to be so apportioned shall
include the cost of changes or alterations in the equipment of
public utilities affected as well as the cost of the
relocation, diversion or establishment of any public highway,
made necessary by such reconstruction, alteration, relocation
or improvement of said crossing. A hearing shall not be
required in those instances when the Commission enters an order
confirming a written stipulation in which the Commission, the
public highway authority or other public authority in interest,
the rail carrier or carriers affected, and in instances
involving the use of the Grade Crossing Protection Fund, the
Illinois Department of Transportation, agree on the
reconstruction, alteration, relocation, or improvement and the
subsequent maintenance thereof and the division of costs of
such changes of any grade crossing (including the necessary
highway approaches thereto) of any railroad across any highway,
pedestrian bridge, or pedestrian subway.
    Every rail carrier operating in the State of Illinois shall
construct and maintain every highway crossing over its tracks
within the State so that the roadway at the intersection shall
be as flush with the rails as superelevated curves will allow,
and, unless otherwise ordered by the Commission, shall
construct and maintain the approaches thereto at a grade of not
more than 5% within the right of way for a distance of not less
the 6 feet on each side of the centerline of such tracks;
provided, that the grades at the approaches may be maintained
in excess of 5% only when authorized by the Commission.
    Every rail carrier operating within this State shall remove
from its right of way at all railroad-highway grade crossings
within the State, such brush, shrubbery, and trees as is
reasonably practical for a distance of not less than 500 feet
in either direction from each grade crossing. The Commission
shall have power, upon its own motion, or upon complaint, and
after having made proper investigation, to require the
installation of adequate and appropriate luminous reflective
warning signs, luminous flashing signals, crossing gates
illuminated at night, or other protective devices in order to
promote and safeguard the health and safety of the public.
Luminous flashing signal or crossing gate devices installed at
grade crossings, which have been approved by the Commission,
shall be deemed adequate and appropriate. The Commission shall
have authority to determine the number, type, and location of
such signs, signals, gates, or other protective devices which,
however, shall conform as near as may be with generally
recognized national standards, and the Commission shall have
authority to prescribe the division of the cost of the
installation and subsequent maintenance of such signs,
signals, gates, or other protective devices between the rail
carrier or carriers, the public highway authority or other
public authority in interest, and in instances involving the
use of the Grade Crossing Protection Fund, the Illinois
Department of Transportation. Except where train crews provide
flagging of the crossing to road users, yield signs shall be
installed at all highway intersections with every grade
crossing in this State that is not equipped with automatic
warning devices, such as luminous flashing signals or crossing
gate devices. A stop sign may be used in lieu of the yield sign
when an engineering study conducted in cooperation with the
highway authority and the Illinois Department of
Transportation has determined that a stop sign is warranted. If
the Commission has ordered the installation of luminous
flashing signal or crossing gate devices at a grade crossing
not equipped with active warning devices, the Commission shall
order the installation of temporary stop signs at the highway
intersection with the grade crossing unless an engineering
study has determined that a stop sign is not appropriate. If a
stop sign is not appropriate, the Commission may order the
installation of other appropriate supplemental signing as
determined by an engineering study. The temporary signs shall
remain in place until the luminous flashing signal or crossing
gate devices have been installed. The rail carrier is
responsible for the installation and subsequent maintenance of
any required signs. The permanent signs shall be in place by
July 1, 2011.
    No railroad may change or modify the warning device system
at a railroad-highway grade crossing, including warning
systems interconnected with highway traffic control signals,
without having first received the approval of the Commission.
The Commission shall have the further power, upon application,
upon its own motion, or upon complaint and after having made
proper investigation, to require the interconnection of grade
crossing warning devices with traffic control signals at
highway intersections located at or near railroad crossings
within the distances described by the State Manual on Uniform
Traffic Control Devices adopted pursuant to Section 11-301 of
this Code. In addition, State and local authorities may not
install, remove, modernize, or otherwise modify traffic
control signals at a highway intersection that is
interconnected or proposed to be interconnected with grade
crossing warning devices when the change affects the number,
type, or location of traffic control devices on the track
approach leg or legs of the intersection or the timing of the
railroad preemption sequence of operation until the Commission
has approved the installation, removal, modernization, or
modification. Commission approval shall be limited to
consideration of issues directly affecting the public safety at
the railroad-highway grade crossing. The electrical circuit
devices, alternate warning devices, and preemption sequences
shall conform as nearly as possible, considering the particular
characteristics of the crossing and intersection area, to the
State manual adopted by the Illinois Department of
Transportation pursuant to Section 11-301 of this Code and such
federal standards as are made applicable by subsection (2) of
this Section. In order to carry out this authority, the
Commission shall have the authority to determine the number,
type, and location of traffic control devices on the track
approach leg or legs of the intersection and the timing of the
railroad preemption sequence of operation. The Commission
shall prescribe the division of costs for installation and
maintenance of all devices required by this paragraph between
the railroad or railroads and the highway authority in interest
and in instances involving the use of the Grade Crossing
Protection Fund or a State highway, the Illinois Department of
Transportation.
    Any person who unlawfully or maliciously removes, throws
down, damages or defaces any sign, signal, gate or other
protective device, located at or near any public grade
crossing, shall be guilty of a petty offense and fined not less
than $50 nor more than $200 for each offense. In addition to
fines levied under the provisions of this Section a person
adjudged guilty hereunder may also be directed to make
restitution for the costs of repair or replacement, or both,
necessitated by his misconduct.
    It is the public policy of the State of Illinois to enhance
public safety by establishing safe grade crossings. In order to
implement this policy, the Illinois Commerce Commission is
directed to conduct public hearings and to adopt specific
criteria by July 1, 1994, that shall be adhered to by the
Illinois Commerce Commission in determining if a grade crossing
should be opened or abolished. The following factors shall be
considered by the Illinois Commerce Commission in developing
the specific criteria for opening and abolishing grade
crossings:
        (a) timetable speed of passenger trains;
        (b) distance to an alternate crossing;
        (c) accident history for the last 5 years;
        (d) number of vehicular traffic and posted speed
    limits;
        (e) number of freight trains and their timetable
    speeds;
        (f) the type of warning device present at the grade
    crossing;
        (g) alignments of the roadway and railroad, and the
    angle of intersection of those alignments;
        (h) use of the grade crossing by trucks carrying
    hazardous materials, vehicles carrying passengers for
    hire, and school buses; and
        (i) use of the grade crossing by emergency vehicles.
    The Illinois Commerce Commission, upon petition to open or
abolish a grade crossing, shall enter an order opening or
abolishing the crossing if it meets the specific criteria
adopted by the Commission.
    Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (3), in no
instance shall a grade crossing be permanently closed without
public hearing first being held and notice of such hearing
being published in an area newspaper of local general
circulation.
    (4) Freight Trains - Radio Communications. The Commission
shall after hearing and order require that every main line
railroad freight train operating on main tracks outside of yard
limits within this State shall be equipped with a radio
communication system. The Commission after notice and hearing
may grant exemptions from the requirements of this Section as
to secondary and branch lines.
    (5) Railroad Bridges and Trestles - Walkway and Handrail.
In cases in which the Commission finds the same to be practical
and necessary for safety of railroad employees, bridges and
trestles, over and upon which railroad trains are operated,
shall include as a part thereof, a safe and suitable walkway
and handrail on one side only of such bridge or trestle, and
such handrail shall be located at the outer edge of the walkway
and shall provide a clearance of not less than 8 feet, 6
inches, from the center line of the nearest track, measured at
right angles thereto.
    (6) Packages Containing Articles for First Aid to Injured
on Trains.
        (a) All rail carriers shall provide a first aid kit
    that contains, at a minimum, those package containing the
    articles prescribed by the Commission, on each train or
    engine, for first aid to persons who may be injured in the
    course of the operation of such trains.
        (b) A vehicle, excluding a taxi cab used in an
    emergency situation, operated by a contract carrier
    transporting railroad employees in the course of their
    employment shall be equipped with a readily available first
    aid kit that contains, as a minimum, the same articles that
    are required on each train or engine.
    (7) Abandoned Bridges, Crossings, and Other Rail Plant. The
Commission shall have authority, after notice and hearing, to
order:
        (a) The removal of any abandoned railroad tracks from
    roads, streets or other thoroughfares in this State; and
        (b) The removal of abandoned overhead railroad
    structures crossing highways, waterways, or railroads.
    The Commission may equitably apportion the cost of such
actions between the rail carrier or carriers, public utilities,
and the State, county, municipality, township, road district,
or other public authority in interest.
    (8) Railroad-Highway Bridge Clearance. A vertical
clearance of not less than 23 feet above the top of rail shall
be provided for all new or reconstructed highway bridges
constructed over a railroad track. The Commission may permit a
lesser clearance if it determines that the 23 foot clearance
standard cannot be justified based on engineering,
operational, and economic conditions.
(Source: P.A. 96-470, eff. 8-14-09.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2012