Clarification -- Placentia Rail Corridor Safety Improvements.City Desks/News & Assignment Editors PLACENTIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2002 The City of Placentia is in the process of implementing the installation of Supplemental Safety Measures at eight (8) existing at-grade highway/railroad crossings, in cooperation with the Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) was created in 1966 as a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation to promote rail transportation and safety. The FRA is one of 10 agencies within the Department of Transportation concerned with intermodal transportation. , California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, , the cities of Anaheim and Fullerton, the County of Orange, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, railroad system in much of the United States (except the Northeast) and in S Canada, created in 1995 from the merger of Burlington Northern Inc. and the Santa Fe Pacific Corp. (see Santa Fe RR). Company (BNSF BNSF Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (railroad) ), and the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. The City project team seeks to clarify previously reported information regarding the installation or conversion of the railroad traffic control system. Project engineers incorrectly described how the railroad dispatch and communication system would function upon completion of the project. After further research, it was found that the entire railroad corridor through the Placentia area has a modern, centralized traffic control Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a signalling system used by railroads. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that controls railroad switches in the CTC territory and the signals that railroad engineers must obey in order to keep the traffic (CTC CTC - Cornell Theory Center ) system. There is no "gap area" as previously indicated and no need to install a new computerized control system. The only work to be completed as part of the proposed project is the removal of above ground railroad communication lines and poles and the conversion of the communication signal directly into the rail track itself. Since the CTC system is already in place, it would not have prevented the April 23, 2002 train to train accident, as previously reported. Its cost has been deleted from the project scope of work. Cost savings were also achieved because two at-grade crossings are fully funded through grants from the state and Orange County Transportation Authority The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the public sector transportation planning body and transit service provider for Orange County, California. Its ancestor agencies include not only the prior Orange County Transit District but also such diverse entities as . Underpasses will be constructed at Placentia Avenue and Melrose Street. Additionally, one other crossing, Bradford Avenue, will be closed upon completion of the Melrose underpass. Since construction will begin on these projects this summer, it is not cost effective to install the Supplemental Safety Measures at these locations. These factors have reduced the project cost from $9.2 million to $5 million. |
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