New York Governor Andrew Cuomo this week signed a bill into law that will allow for a comprehensive review of the state’s rail crossings. The bill was sponsored by Hudson Valley lawmakers.
The legislation directs the Department of Transportation to conduct a study of level grade rail crossings and to submit a report to the governor and the legislature by April 1, 2017. David Carlucci, an Independent Democrat, sponsored the bill in the Senate. Democratic Assemblyman Tom Abinanti first introduced the bill following the fatal February 2015 Metro-North crash – where a commuter train collided with an SUV at a highway railroad grade crossing in Valhalla. Carlucci says the legislation gives the state the ability to determine which crossings are considered the most dangerous and how much it would cost to improve them.
