Railway-Highway Crossings Program

The Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration funds hazard elimination and safety improvements at public railway-highway grade crossings under the Railway-Highway Crossings (Section 130) Program (CFDA 20.285), with the most recent grant awards issued on August 28, 2026.

The program has demonstrated strong upward momentum in award activity. Sixty-one awards across two decades reflect sustained engagement, but annual disbursements have accelerated sharply: 31 awards in 2022 grew to 250 awards in 2026 through August. The portfolio spans engineering and construction projects at public at-grade crossings nationwide. Recent awards fund preliminary engineering assessments for safety countermeasures (such as the Fredericksburg, Bristol, and Culpeper district-wide scoping efforts at $300 thousand each), signal and gate installations with crossing surface upgrades (representative examples include installations at Kyle Street and Cedar Hill Drive in Scottsboro, Alabama at $552 thousand and $521 thousand respectively), surface rehabilitation and replacement (such as the Livingston 5th Street crossing concrete replacement in Montana at $155 thousand), and statewide railroad safety program administration and field inspection activities.

The program operates as 100 percent Formula Grants, distributing $172 million in combined federal dollars obligated across 601 awards from inception through August 2026, with a matching non-federal share bringing total obligated value to $190.3 million. Award magnitudes vary widely, from small spot-improvements ($15 thousand to $50 thousand for limited signal or marking work) to substantial rehabilitation projects ($1.1 million to $1.8 million for multi-location or multi-year district-wide efforts). The Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration is the sole funding agency.

No open grant opportunities appear in the recent-opportunities block.