The risk presented by highway-rail grade crossings is a major issue for all states developing high-speed passenger rail service. North Carolina has about one crossing per mile, typical for most developing high-speed corridors nationally. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) developed a very creative approach, called the Sealed Corridor Initiative, which applies innovative, low cost techniques to significantly reduce or eliminate incidents of highway vehicles bypassing crossing gates, thereby virtually eliminating grade crossing incidents. For example, placing plastic poles along the highway centerline creates a median barrier that reduced gate running by almost 80 percent. Other treatments include using longer crossing gate arms, video monitoring and ticketing, and four-quadrant gates to close all lanes of the road. NCDOT plans to treat or close every crossing (210 public and 47 private) along the 174-mile right-of-way between Raleigh and Charlotte, NC under the Sealed Corridor Initiative.

The North Carolina "Sealed Corridor" Phase I U.S. DOT Assessment Report submitted to Congress in August 2001concluded that at least five lives had been saved in the first phase of the Sealed Corridor Intiative, which had made improvements to 52 crossings between Charlotte and Greensboro, NC. The State is continuing to close and improve crossings and its Private Crossing Initiative will examine, close or treat all 47 private crossings in the corridor.

Further information about the Sealed Corridor and North Carolina's efforts can be found on the State's web page www.bytrain.org