Alternative Solutions to Railroad Impacts on Communities: Final Summary Report

The study objective was to identify and evaluate low-cost solutions to problems associated with railroad/community conflicts occurring along the study corridor. To accomplish this objective, a three-phase work program was conducted:
• In Phase I, a corridor-wide survey of rail/community conflicts was made. Problems were identified by community and a preliminary list of low-cost actions deemed to be potential solutions was developed.
• In Phase II, an in-depth analysis of problems in six representative corridor communities was conducted. Alternative low-cost actions to resolve the problems were identified and analyzed. Phase II culminated with selection of remedial actions to be implemented in each case study community as demonstration projects. Funding sources for the project also were investigated.
• In Phase III, the demonstration projects were Implemented and evaluated. The purpose of this phase was to establish the actual effectiveness of the projects in resolving problems and to determine the projects' applicability to other corridor communities.

This report summarizes the findings of the study. Separate reports documenting the results of Phases I and II are available.