California Avenue BNSF crossing, (City of Hastings, Courtesy)
HASTINGS — As part of Phase 2 of the city’s ongoing Quiet Crossing project, the Denver, Lincoln and California Avenue BNSF Railway crossings reopened on Tuesday, June 24.
Work on the railroad quiet crossings is funded by the city’s current half cent sales tax that was approved by 81.55% of voters in September 2017.
The quiet zone takes effect only after construction is complete on all the crossings and appropriate paperwork is filed with the FRA for the quiet crossing designation.
Phases of Quiet Zone Work
Phase 1 included the Hastings Avenue and Pine Avenue crossings with the BNSF.
Phase 2 includes the Lincoln Avenue, Denver Avenue and California Avenue crossings with the BNSF.
Phase 3 will be in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 budget for the Colorado Avenue and Elm Avenue crossings. The schedule for Phase 3 has not yet been determined.
Phase 2 work
Werner Construction of Hastings started work on Denver Avenue between South Street and First Street in early May and progressed to the Denver Avenue and California Avenue crossings.
The work included driveway, pavement and sidewalk removals and then new concrete driveways, paving and sidewalks. BNSF then replaced the railroad tracks through the crossing and upgraded from wooden crossing planks to concrete crossing pads. Then the BNSF’s asphalt contractor placed asphalt between the new concrete pavement and the new railroad crossing.
Medians were built in advance of the railroad crossings as a supplemental safety measure as part of a quiet zone designation. The medians are a physical barrier that restricts driver access to the opposing lane, thereby discouraging motorists from driving around the crossing arm or gate.
The medians at the California Avenue crossing were also built with as a physical barrier using the vertical panels as an additional visual barrier to improve the visibility of the median.
