STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

IN RE: )

Petition of State of Florida ) Department of Transportation for )

closing of, or in the ) CASE NO. 77-1751 alternative, installation of )

appropriate safety equipment at, ) a public at-grade railroad ) crossing 2423 feet north of ) Seaboard Coastline Railroad ) Company Mile Post SPA-803 and a ) proposed Street at Four Points ) Industrial Park in Tallahassee, ) Florida. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, an administrative hearing was held in Room 104, Collins Building, Tallahassee, Florida, on July 11, 1978, before Delphene C. Strickland, Hearing Officer, Division of Administrative Hearings, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

APPEARANCES

For Department Frank King, Esquire

of Transportation: Department of Transportation

Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

For Four Points Roy T. Rhodes, Esquire Industrial Park: Post Office Drawer 1140

Tallahassee, Florida 32302

For Panhandle Jesse F. Warren, Jr., Esquire Concrete Post Office Box 612 Industries, Inc.,: Tallahassee, Florida 32302

For Seaboard Coast

Line Railroad: No appearance

To Observe: Mr. H. A. Strickland Tallahassee Agent

For City of

Tallahassee: No appearance ISSUES

1. Whether the subject railroad crossing is a public crossing.

   
   

2. Whether the crossing should be closed.

3. Whether additional safety equipment should be required if the crossing is not closed.

FINDINGS OF FACT

After receiving evidence, hearing testimony and personally visiting the site of the subject railroad crossing and the area the crossing serves, I find:

1. The subject of this hearing is a railroad crossing located 2,423 North of Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company Mile Post SPA-803 in an area designated Four Points Way on the west side of South Adams Street, Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

   
   

   1. Petitioner, Florida Department of Transportation, contends that the crossing is now a public crossing and should be closed or appropriate safety equipment should be installed. The safety engineer for Petitioner recommends flashing lights and gates.

      
      

   2. Respondent contends that the present signalization is adequate and the crossing should not be closed; that the railroad should maintain the current safety signalization at the existing crossing and that appropriate markings should be made at the highway and street approach to the crossing.

      
      

2. Public use has increased from a few crossings per day to a 24-hour count of 1,186 vehicles on an average day in July, 1978. The increase in traffic has been generated by the number of business establishments in the industrial area and increased business. A large business catering to home owners has generated a large amount of business in recent years.

   
   

3. The railroad crossings and streets make a complicated and congested traffic pattern: The subject crossing is located West of South Adams Street (State Road 363) on a paved but privately owned paved and curbed street which serves the industrial area.

   
   

4. There is a short street connecting South Adams Street and South Monroe Street (State Road 61) directly across South Adams Street from the subject crossing.

   
   

5. The area intersection has two major highways, South Adams and South Monroe, crossing each other with several exits and entrances. There have been many reported traffic accidents.

   
   

6. The Panhandle Concrete Industry, Inc., is a concrete plant which has an entrance intersecting with the private paved road in the industrial park area West of the railroad. It uses the subject railroad crossing.

   
   

7. Directly to the East and South of the subject crossing is a public generated unimproved road intersecting with South Adams Street, a short distance from the crossing.

   
   

8. Approximately 600 feet North of the subject crossing is a paved but non-signalized crossing that is used by the general public doing business with Carpet City, The Canoe Shop, Home of Fibercell Manufacturing, Inc., Signs by

   Matlock, and a Department of Education warehouse. It appears that said crossing is subject to regulation by petitioner under Section 338.21(3), Florida Statutes.

9. Approximately 1,000 feet North of the subject crossing is a public crossing on Bragg Drive. This crossing is marked by railroad cross bucks. There is an entrance to Bragg Drive from the Department of Education warehouse and also from the foregoing named businesses primarily served by the paved but non-signalized crossing.

   
   

10. Respondent, Albritton-Williams, requested a permit for the opening of an at-grade public crossing on October 22, 1973. Thereafter, at a public hearing on July 15, 1974, it moved to amend the application so it could pave the subject crossing and contended that the crossing was in fact a private crossing.

    
    

11. On November 6, 1974, the Recommended Order, which was adopted as the Petitioner's Final Order, concluded that the crossing was a private crossing and that the Florida Department of Transportation had no jurisdiction. Thereafter, the owners of the industrial area paved the street to serve the private business interests of the industrial park.

    
    

12. Subsequent to the issuance of the Recommended Order, and subsequent to the paving of the street, the Petitioner, Florida Department of Transportation, determined that the formerly designated private crossing is in fact a public crossing and that the Petitioner has and should exert regulatory authority over the crossing as required by Section 338.21, Florida Statutes. It petitioned for subject hearing.

    
    

13. There are a number of owners and lessees of the area including: Panhandle Concrete Industries, Inc.; Scottie's; Eli-Witt Company; Four Points Industrial Park and Albritton-Williams, Inc. These owners and lessees are all businesses which invite the public to their doors and presently require the crossing of subject railroad both to and from the businesses. There is no other improved exit or entrance to the industrial and business area. The roadways within the park have not been dedicated to the City, County or State.

    
    

14. The Seaboard Coastline Railroad uses the three tracks enroute Lo St. Marks, Florida, three days a week, twice each day, travelling between ten and twenty miles per hour. The three to eight car train runs in the afternoons between 3:00 o'clock and 4:00 o'clock to St. Marks and returns. The tracks run North and South and the road runs East and West. The testimony elicited stated that the train takes about five minutes per crossing, six times each week, twice each day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

    
    

15. The rail highway grade crossing index introduced into evidence placed the crossing at 2,848 on a priority rating the highest being 8 and the lowest being 5,639 for corrective action at public railroad crossings in the State of Florida. The accident potential of subject crossing is 06 on a scale of 40.19. There have been no reported accidents at the subject crossing.

    
    

16. The vehicular traffic at the crossing can back up on South Adams Street at the time of the crossing of the train for the reason that the area between the closest railroad track and the outer edge of the travel lane going South on Adams Street is approximately 90 to 95 feet with storage for about three vehicles. Highway and street approach markings although helpful would not solve the problem of congested traffic.

    
    

17. The property that the existing crossing serves is within the cite limits of Tallahassee, Florida.

18. The proposed order of the Respondent has been examined and each proposed fact has been treated in this Order.

    
    

19. The Hearing Officer further finds:

    
    

    1. The subject crossing is a public crossing and there has been a crossing in said general area which had been used by the public in excess of twenty years.

       
       

    2. There is a need for a railroad crossing to serve the industrial area that stretches from the privately paved road of Respondent North to Bragg Street and South of the concrete plant. A crossing in the area is required for the convenience of the business interest in the area.

    
    

20. The subject crossing creates a hazard because of its location directly West of South Adams Street and across from the short cross-connection between South Adams Street and South Monroe Street. This hazard is increased by other cross-connections between these major streets and by a public railroad crossing on State Road 61, South Monroe Street approximately 400 feet South of the subject crossing.

    
    

21. The hazard is caused by the location of the crossing rather than the crossing itself.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

22. Section 338.21(3), provides:

    
    

    The department shall have regulatory authority over all public railroad crossings in the state, including the authority to issue a permit for the opening and closing of such crossings.

    
    

23. Chapter 14-46.03, Highway Railroad at-Grade Intersection-Authorization for the Opening and Closing (3)(b) provides that all new public grade crossings shall have, as the minimum, roadside flashing lights and bells on all roadway approaches to the crossing, normally placed to the right of approaching traffic. Chapter 14-46.03(g) provides that any exceptions stated in Section 14-46.03(3), Installation Criteria-Warning Devices, must be approved by the Department based on engineering judgment.

    
    

24. The Petitioner has authority to regulate subject crossing and the criteria used in the regulation is the necessity, convenience and safety for rail and vehicular traffic. 14-46.03 (2)(a).

RECOMMENDATION

1. Close the crossing in not less than 90 days or more than 100 days from date hereof.

   
   

2. Upon petition by the respondent or other interested parties, open a crossing to serve the needs and convenience of the owners and lessees at the closing of the subject crossing at a location that will not cause a traffic hazard and will meet standards required by the Petitioner, Department of Transportation. Consideration should be given to directing all traffic crossing the railroad to one crossing serving the entire commercial area which includes

interests in addition to respondents. The non-signalized crossing should be scrutinized.

DONE and ENTERED this 6th day of November, 1978, in Tallahassee, Florida.

DELPHENE C. STRICKLAND

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Frank King, Esquire Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

Roy T. Rhodes, Esquire Post Office Drawer 1140

Tallahassee, Florida 32302

Jesse F. Warren, Jr., Esquire Post Office Box 612 Tallahassee, Florida 32302

E. Eugene Buzard

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad

500 Water Street Jacksonville, Florida

Rhett Miller, City Engineer City Hall

Tallahassee, Florida 32304

================================================================= AGENCY FINAL ORDER

=================================================================

STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

IN RE:

Petition of State of Florida, Department of Transportation for closing of, or in the alternative, installation of

appropriate safety equipment at, CASE NO. 77-1751 a public at-grade railroad

crossing 2,423 feet north of Seaboard Coastline Railroad Company Mile Post SPA-803 and a proposed street at Four Points Industrial Park in Tallahassee, Florida.

/

FINAL ORDER

After a full and complete review of the record and evidence in this case, and reviewing the Exceptions filed to a Recommended Order and hearing oral argument on said Exceptions, the Recommended Order of the Hearing Officer is adopted with the following specific Exceptions:

1. The finding of fact that South Adams Street and South Monroe Street cross each other is not supported by the evidence and it is hereby found that said streets run in close proximity to, but do not cross, each other.

   
   

2. The finding of fact that the Seaboard Coastline uses the three tracks en route to St. Marks, Florida is not supported by the evidence and is rejected. It is hereby found that there are three tracks at the subject crossing but only one track is used by the railroad three days a week, making one trip and a return on each such dab.

It is hereby found that the other Exceptions filed to the Recommended Order have merit but are not material to the resolution of this case.

ORDER:

The subject crossing is a public crossing to be included on the state-wide inventory of public crossings and scheduled for signalization in its appropriate order of priority pursuant to the Departmental program of at-grade public railroad crossing improvements.

DONE AND ORDERED this 5 day of October, 1979.

WILLIAM N. ROSE SECRETARY

STATE OF FLORIDA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HAYDON BURNS BUILDING TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301

COPIES FURNISHED:

Roy T. Rhodes, Esquire Post Office Box 1140

Tallahassee, Florida 32302

Jesse F. Warren, Jr., Esquire Post Office Box 612 Tallahassee, Florida 32302

Bryan W. Henry, Esquire City Attorney

Post Office Drawer 1049 Tallahassee, Florida 32302

John Alderson, Esquire,

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company

500 Water Street Jacksonville, Florida

Philip S. Bennett, Esquire

Florida Department of Transportation Haydon Burns Building

Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 77-001751

Orders for Case No: 77-001751