Section 2: Preliminary Activities
Determining if Railroad
Coordination is Needed
Determining if Railroad
Coordination is Needed
Per Federal-aid guidelines (
),
any projects with a terminus near railroad right of way need to
be cleared by the railroad. The terminus has included up to and
including the advanced railroad signage for a grade crossing. Rail
Division must clear all projects with a notice to the railroad for
all work on or within 50 feet of the railroad right of way line.
The district coordinator should be informed by the district project
managers on work that is within 500 feet of railroad right of way
to determine railroad impact.
TxDOT shall certify all projects at one of four levels per
Design Division:
- No railroad work.
- Railroad agreement executed; work performed prior to letting.
- Railroad agreement executed; work during construction.
- Railroad agreement not executed; work during construction.
The district shall certify the projects and provide the information
to Design Division. RRD will review and approve the list or request
revisions. See Design Division
Project Development
Process Manual
for descriptions of the certifications.Preliminary Information
All TxDOT project personnel should review and follow the Design Division's for the development of any projects.
As districts identify construction projects impacting railroad right of way, the following documents should be obtained:
- Existing license agreement or permit for the crossing or location being impacted by the projectto be obtained by RRD.
- Advanced Funding Agreements (AFA) between TxDOT and a local government for the projectto be obtained by the district.
- Copy of executed agreement between the local government and railroad company (if applicable) to be obtained by the district.
- Right of way mapsto be obtained by the district.
If the existing agreement can be obtained,
RRD
will verify if TxDOT or the roadway authority either
has a license to cross railroad right of way or if the railroad is crossing the roadway right of way via permit. RRD
will also verify the responsibilities established with all parties in the original agreement and if the new project is impacted by these responsibilities.An AFA can be used as an attachment to a C&M Agreement to avoid a three-party agreement involving the local government. In this scenario, the C&M Agreement can be executed between TxDOT and the railroad company with the AFA attached to clarify maintenance responsibilities. The AFA also specifies the party responsible for preliminary engineering and the party
responsible for the project construction
.The
RRD
contract specialist determines if an existing safety (Section 130
) or replanking project exists at any of the at-grade crossings on the project. If so, the safety or replanking project may be canceled and paid for under the construction project. See comments regarding Highway Safety Improvement Projects and Section 130 projects in Chapter 4, Section 130
.If a district or local let project involves safety/HSIP funding or affects traffic signals and/or sidewalks, contact Rail Division for potential partnering. See Chapter 4, Section 130 for further details.
Project Team
In the early planning stages, several parties may be needed
for proper railroad coordination:
- Railroad company point of contact.
- Local government point of contact(if applicable).
- Consultant (if applicable).
- District project manager.
- District design engineer.
- District railroad coordinator.
- Area engineer.
- RRDcontract specialist.
- Bridge Divisionpoint of contact(bridge projects only).
- Traffic Division point of contact (signal, signage, and preemption projects only).
The railroad company point of contact determines which
additional
contacts
from the railroad company may be needed for coordination. Departments
the
railroad company may include are real estate department, legal department,
track design, structural engineers, environmental engineers, maintenance,
local operations, and flagging.Consultants with previous track design experience should be
used on any projects involving track design (typically underpass
projects). Familiarity with both American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way
Association
(AREMA)
and individual railroad company track standards are essential
when evaluating the consultants
.Preliminary Design Meeting
Prior to plans and schematics being developed, the district
project manager should contact the railroad company and local government
(if applicable) to schedule a preliminary design meeting. At this
meeting, the
following items should be discussed
:- Project timelines.
- Design elements,including sidewalks, road closures, etc.
- Preliminary schematic.
- At-grade crossing protection devices.
- Traffic signal preemption.
- Planking (crossing surface).
- Drainage, electrical and other utilities across railroad right of way.
- Commercial signs or billboards.
- Bridge horizontal and vertical clearances and crash walls.
- Railroad company futuretrack needs.
- Railroad company cost participation.
- Railroad company cost estimates.
- Work to be performed by railroad company.
- Any required shoofly tracks, railroad signal relocates or track work.
- Adjacent at-grade crossings and wayside signals with existing circuitry that could impact railroad company cost estimate.
- Potential project benefits forthe railroad company TxDOT could use in negotiations.
- Railroad right of way and construction access forthe contractor.
- Railroad right of wayacquisition (if applicable).
- Need for absolute work windows during construction (when trains cannot be run).
- Railroad coordination during project development.
The preliminary design meeting should also clarify how the
various railroad agreements and coordination with the railroad company
will be handled throughout project development prior to letting. Questions
to be answered:
- Who will submit and be a party to the Preliminary EngineeringLetter of Authority (PELOA)?
- RRDpolicy is that allPELOAAgreements are two party agreements for simplification.
- All project invoices from the railroad company should go to the same party that signs the agreement.
- If TxDOT is letting the project, the agreement will include TxDOT and the railroad company. If the local government is letting the project, the agreement will include the local government and the railroad company. TxDOT will typically provideonlydesign approval to the local government and is not a party to the C&M Agreement.
- Who from TxDOT and the local government will review and approve project documents prior to submittal to the railroad company, including the Exhibit A plans and C&M Agreement?
- Who will be the point of contact to submit all documents to the railroad company?
- Who will be a party to and draft the C&M Agreement?RRD prefers two-partyC&M Agreements between the party letting the project and the railroad company. The AFA is typicallyreferenced inthe C&M Agreement to clarify the third party’s responsibilities on the project.
The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) may require
that
all traffic signal preemption agreements are three party agreements
if local government traffic signal maintenance is involved. At
a minimum, the local government agency shall sign the preemption
request form. See Chapter 7 for more information.
Meeting minutes from the preliminary design meeting should
be sent by the district to the project team for comments and concurrence.
In some cases, an informal approval from the railroad company may
be required for the design features on the project prior to development
of Exhibit A plans.
Preliminary Engineering Letter
of Authority (PELOA)
Letter
of Authority (PELOA)
Many railroad companies require a
PELOA
to
reimburse the railroad company for charges incurred for:- Review and approval ofproposedengineering design.
- Development of cost estimates for work performed by the railroad company.
- Development of railroad wireline diagrams.
- Real estate reviews of property impacted by the project.
- Legal review of agreements.
- Meeting attendanceduring project development.
- Track surveys.
- Railroad flagging in support of Preliminary Engineering activities.
These agreements,
drafted by RRD,
may
also provide authorization to the railroad company to provide flagging
for preliminary design activities on the railroad right of way. Presently
,
railroad companies have the following requirements for PELOAs
:- UPRR and CPKC: PELOAsare required for all construction projects other than pipe and wireline installations or general maintenance work on railroad right of way.
- UPRR may also require a PELOA for bridge maintenance work, if applicable.
- BNSF: PELOAs are required for traffic signal and preemption projects. All other construction projects may require a PELOA at the discretion of the BNSF contact.
- Shortline railroad companies: Check withRRDfor current requirements.
PELOAs are sent with a project schematic. If an
approved Exhibit A is available, this will take place of the project
schematic.
Project Schematic
The district initially arranges to have a project schematic
developed. The project schematic is a general profile view showing
the roadway alignment with the railroad and clarifying if any crossings
of the railroad are at-grade or grade separated.
Other Preliminary Agreements
Preliminary activities on the railroad right-of-way may require
separate letter agreements with the railroad company. The agreements
clarify insurance and right of entry requirements and provide authorization
to the railroad company to provide flagging services. These agreements
are typically between the party (TxDOT or local government) providing
engineering services on the project and the railroad company. Preliminary
activities could include:
- Surveying.
- Boring.
- Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE).
- Environmental mitigation (asbestos, lead, etc.).
The district railroad coordinator will assign the
draft of these agreements to the appropriate district staff.
The three Class I railroads have a contract flagging
company for flagging services. Standard provisions allow for the
TxDOT contractor to directly reimburse the contract flagger for
their services.
Diagnostic Inspection
After the preliminary design meeting, the district railroad
coordinator should arrange a diagnostic inspection
(if
applicable)
with the railroad company and project team
to visit the project location and discuss:- Train operations, including train speed and counts.
- Safety requirements.
- At-grade crossing safety devices.
- Impact to track, wayside signals,preemption,and equipment, if any.
- Phased construction.
- Other railroad company and TxDOT projects which could impact project.
- Environmental and hydraulic/drainage issues.
- Existing billboards on railroad right of way that may need to be relocated.
- Right of way and utility issues.
- Design issues.
Notes from the diagnostic inspection should clarify all topics
discussed with the project team and list attendees. The district
railroad coordinator compiles the notes.
Utility Relocation
Utility companies with facilities located on railroad right
of way have separate existing agreements with the railroad companies.
These
utilities may not appear on statewide one call utility location
services.
The railroad company normally has their own
one call center. These utilities may not respond to any request
for location without coordinating
through the
railroad.If these utilities need adjusting to accommodate a construction
project, TxDOT or the local government will coordinate the relocation
activity with the utility owner.
The utility owner or provider
shall obtain their own agreement with the railroad to relocate the
affected utility.
Railroad
owned
utility relocation and
railroad company staff coordination of relocation costs will be addressed
in
the C&M agreement.
Right of Way Division
Coordination
Right of Way Division
Coordination
Relocation of commercial signs within the railroad property
does not fall under the responsibilities of the RRD. All commercial
sign issues are managed by the Right of Way Division (ROW). RRD agreements
cannot be used to obtain an easement or fee purchase of railroad
right of way. Commercial sign payments may be included in the final
C&M agreement upon approval from the Right of Way Division.