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Crossing Treatment Procedures

State Laws and Regulations

69-14-607. Overhead or underground crossings

(1) No railroad crossing, other than a grade crossing, shall be ordered by any board of county commissioners.

(2)(a) The public service commission may, however, upon petition or request in writing of any board of county commissioners, order an overhead or underground crossing at any place where a railroad crossing has not been constructed and is required by the provisions of 69-14-601 through 69-14-611; provided, in its judgment, the safety, necessity, and convenience of the traveling public require such crossing.

(b) When any such petition or request is presented, the commission shall fix a date for hearing the same and shall give at least 10 days’ written notice to the board of county commissioners and the owner or operator of the railroad to be affected by such order of the time fixed for the hearing. At such hearing, the commission shall hear all testimony offered as to the safety, necessity, and convenience of the traveling public requiring such a crossing and the expense of constructing and maintaining the same and shall make such investigation and inspection of the conditions at the place of crossing as may be deemed necessary or advisable and shall thereupon determine whether such order should be made.

(3) In the event an overhead or underground crossing is ordered, the commission may in its discretion require the same to be constructed and maintained by and at the expense of the railroad company or may apportion the expense between the railroad company and the county in which said crossing is located. The part of the expense apportioned to said county, if any, shall be paid to the railroad company from the funds of said county properly applicable to the payment of such expense.

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-607

69-14-603. Railroad crossings in unincorporated towns or villages

In any unincorporated community ordinarily known as a village or town where the public necessity and convenience require a railroad crossing at the intersection of the railroad with any street or highway, whether lawfully established or otherwise, which is commonly used by the public, the board of county commissioners of the county may order the construction and maintenance of such railroad crossing. Upon such order becoming final and effective, it shall be the duty of the railroad company to construct and maintain in proper condition a good and safe crossing. The board of county commissioners may order more than one railroad crossing in such unincorporated community, as provided in this section, when the public necessity and convenience require more than one such crossing to afford reasonable facilities for public travel.

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-603

69-14-606. Role of public service commission with respect to crossings

(1) The commission may enforce the orders of any board of county commissioners for the construction of railroad crossings and may pass upon the reasonableness of any such order and modify, change, or annul the same.

(2) Whenever any railroad crossing has been ordered by the county commissioners, as herein provided, the railroad company may, within 30 days after the service of such order, serve upon the commission a notice stating why the order is considered unreasonable or unjust and requesting that the commission hold a hearing for the purpose of determining whether or not the construction of such crossing should reasonably be required. The commission shall thereupon institute a hearing for this purpose, and all interested parties shall be given reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard. The commission may, after such hearing, either affirm, modify, or annul such order.

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-606

69-14-602. Construction and maintenance of railroad crossings outside of incorporated cities and towns

At all places in the state, outside of incorporated cities and towns where a lawfully established public highway crosses any railroad, it shall be the duty of the railroad company owning or operating such railroad to construct and thereafter maintain in proper condition a good and safe crossing.

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-602

Blocked Crossings

State Laws, Regulations, and Penalties

9-14-626. Prohibition on extended obstruction of highway crossings

(1) It shall be unlawful for any corporation, association, or company to willfully obstruct, blockade, interfere with, or prevent the free use of any public highway within the state where such highway crosses any railroad track outside of incorporated cities and towns by stopping any railroad train, car, engine, or locomotive for more than 15 minutes at any one time or by placing, depositing, or leaving any article or thing whatsoever on any railroad track at the point where any public highway crosses such track outside of incorporated cities and towns.

(2) Any corporation, association, or company so obstructing, blockading, or interfering with the free use of any such highway shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25 or more than $100. This section shall not be construed as repealing any existing laws prohibiting encroachments upon or obstruction of public highways.

Mont. Code Ann. § 9-14-626

Warning Devices-Passive

State Laws and Regulations

61-8-348. All vehicles to stop at certain railroad grade crossings

(1) The department of transportation and local authorities in their respective jurisdictions may designate particularly dangerous highway grade crossings of railroads and erect stop signs at these crossings. Where these stop signs are erected, the operator of a vehicle shall stop as close as practicable but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail of the railroad and may proceed only upon exercising due care.

(2) The operator of a vehicle upon a highway outside of the limits of an incorporated city or town who is approaching a highway grade crossing where a flag person or a mechanical device is not in place or maintained to warn the public of approaching trains or other on-track equipment shall, before crossing the railroad tracks, stop the vehicle as close as practicable but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail if:

(a) a curve in the tracks or vegetation or some other feature or characteristic obscures the view of approaching trains or other on-track equipment; or

(b) a moving train or other on-track equipment is within sight or hearing.

Mont. Code Ann. § 61-8-348

69-14-612. Reflectorized material on crossing signs required

Within 2 years after April 9, 1987, a railroad company shall install and maintain reflectorized material on the front and back sides of crossbuck blades on all public crossing signs the railroad company is required to construct and maintain under 69-14602 and 69-14-603.

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-612

Warning Devices- Train Borne

State Laws, Regulations, and Penalties

69-14-236. Repealed by Laws 2015, ch. 104, § 10, eff. October 1, 2015

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-236

69-14-620. Establishment of railroad quiet zones

(1) For the purposes of this section, “quiet zone” means a segment of a railroad within which is situated one or a number of consecutive railroad crossings at which locomotive horns and bells are not routinely sounded.

(2) A governing body of a municipality or a board of county commissioners may petition to the secretary of the United States department of transportation to establish quiet zones at railroad crossings that meet the requirements established in the rules adopted to implement 49 U.S.C. 20153(c). In developing the petition, the governing body of the municipality or the board of county commissioners shall consult with the railroad corporations that operate the rail lines through crossings that are within the proposed quiet zone. The petition must include how the municipality or county intends to implement the supplemental safety measures that are required by the United States department of transportation at railroad crossings within quiet zones.

(3) A quiet zone may not be established at a railroad crossing unless the governing body of a municipality or a board of county commissioners follows the procedure provided in subsection (2) and receives the approval of the secretary of the United States department of transportation or the secretary’s designee.

Mont. Code Ann. § 69-14-620

Warning Devices- Active

State Laws and Regulations

No applicable statute related to this topic.

Private Crossings

State Laws and Regulations

No applicable statute relating to this topic.

Vegetation Clearance

State Laws, Regulations, and Penalties

No applicable statute related to this topic.