Carlucci
NEW CITY – State Senator David Carlucci called for passage of legislation
that would authorize the state Department of Transportation to collaborate
with other organizations to determine which railroad grade crossings are
not safe, and how much it would cost to fix them.
The House Appropriations Committee has approved an increase in funding for railroad grade crossing improvements by $130 million.
Carlucci said the state must determine which grade crossings would need attention with some of that funding.
“Right now with the over 2,700 rail crossings in New York, we don’t have priority list,” Carlucci said on Friday. “We have to have the Department of Transportation go through making inventory to know which are the most dangerous rail crossings in New York. Does that mean we’d have to eliminate some rail crossings completely? Yes. And we should prioritize those and add other features to other rail crossings across the state.”
The state senate bill would give New York the ability to hold hearings and provide a “proper and professional evaluation” of where the faulty rail lines are and how much it would cost to fix them.
