PUBLIC,UTILITIES COMMSSION OF THE

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1 GENERAL ORDER NO (Supersedes General Order No. 88-A) PUBLIC,UTILITIES COMMSSION OF THE.. STATE OF CALIFORNIA RULES FOR ALTERING PUBLIC HIGHWAY-RAIL CROSSINGS ADOPTED January 8,2004. EFFECTIVE February 16,2004. Original GO 88 Adopted February 23,1932, Effective March 15,1932 (Case No. 3145, Decision No ). GO 88-A Replaced GO 88, Effective February 14,1973 (Resolution No. ET-1180) GO 88-A Modified February 2,1983 (Resolution No. ET-1313). GO 88-A Modified January 20,2000 (Resolution SX-27) GO 88-A Modified April 6,2000 (Resolution SX-31).. 1. PURPOSE The purpose of these regulations is to establish criteria for alteration of existing public highway-rail crossings SCOPE The following highway-rail crossing alteration projects shall be governed by these rules: 2.1 Grade crossing widening within the existing street right-of-way. 2.2 Approach grade changes. 2.3 Track elevation changes. 2.4 Roadway realignment that is functionality related to the existing crossing and can be achieved within the existing or a contiguous right-of-way. 2.5 Addition of one track within the existing railroad right-of-way. 2.6 Change in the type or addition of an automatic signaling device, crossing gate, crossing flagman or other forms of crossing protection or reduction of hours during which any such protection is maintained, or other minor alterations. 2.7 Alterations or reconstruction of an existing grade-separated crossing, where exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to California Public Resources (PR) Code Section Construction of a grade-separation that eliminates an existing at-grade highwayrail crossing, where ejrempt from CEQA pursuant to PR Code Section CRITERIA 3.1 The public agencies having jurisdiction over the roadway involved and the railroad corporation shall be in agreement as to the public necessity for altering the existing highway-rail crossing. 3.2 The proposed alteration(s) shall comply with all applicable Commission. General Orders. I 4. NOTICE AND AUTHORIZATION Notice of the proposed alteration and a request for authority shall be served on the Commission staff at least 45 days before the date the alteration is planned to start. The

2 staff shall review the request covering the alteration and within 45 days from the date of receipt indicate to the party desiring the change its position. 5. FORMS AND CONTENTS OF REQUEST Requests shall be made by letter and include the following information: 5.1 The Commission's assigned crossing number and the U. S. Department of Transportation number for the crossing proposed to be altered. 5.2 A statement describing the proposed alteration(s). 5.3 A statement showing the-public benefit to be achieved by the proposed alteration(s). 5.4 A statement showing why a separation of grades is not practicable under the circumstances. 5.5 A statement indicating the existing and proposed railroad warning devices at the crossing. 5.6 A map of the immediate vicinity of the crossing proposed to be altered on a scale of 50 to 200 feet per inch showing the location of streets and roads, property lines, tracks, buildings, other obstructions to the view of the crossing, and the present width of the approaches and the roadway at the crossing. 5.7 A profile showing the present and proposed grade lines of both the railroad and the highway. 5.8 Evidence of agreement between the parties relative to the proposed alteration@). 5.9 A general statement- indicating the temporary traffic controls and type(s) of warning devices to be provided, if any, during the period of construction of the proposed alteration. The temporary traffic controls shall be in compliance with Section 8A.05, Temporary Traffic Control Zones, of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, U.S. Department of Transportation, as amended Where the alteration of the crossing is of a minor nature, such as a change in elevation of eight inches or less, or a total widening of six feet or less and no additional warning devices or changes in existing warning devices are proposed, Items 5.3,5.4,5.5, 5.6 and 5.7 may be omitted fiom the request Where the alteration, reconstruction, or construction is related to a gradeseparated highway-rail crossing, Items 5.4 and 5.5 may be omitted. However, the plans submitted must also show the vertical and horizontal clearances of bridge structures over tracks where applicable For projects involving the alteration or reconstruction of an existing gradeseparated crossing or the construction of a grade-separation that eliminates an existing at-grade crossing, the party desiring the change must provide either (a) a copy of a Notice of Exemption from CEQA requirements filed with the appropriate governmental agency, or (b) other factual evidence that the crossing is exempt pursuant to PR $ APPLICATION REQtTIRED WHERE THE PARTIES ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT Where the parties, including the Commission staff, are not in agreement as to the necessity for or extent of the alteration or apportionment of cost of a proposed change in an existing highway-rail crossing, or the proposed alteration is beyond the scope of this General Order, the party desiring the change shall apply to the Commission for authority to make the alteration. The application shall comply with the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (California Code of Regulations, Title 20). G.O. 88-B

3 .. 7. RlESPONSIBILITY FOR CONSTRUCTION. ' For projects altering existing at-grade highway-rail crossings, all work between the rails of a railroad and within two feet outside of the rails shall be performed under the supervision of the railroad. The railroad shall be responsible for the physical construction of additional warning devices or any changes in the existing warning devices at the crossing. This section shall not be construed as an apportionment of the cost of such work. 8. APPLICATION MUST BE MADE FOR NEW CROSSING Nothing contained herein shall be construed as authorizing the construction of a new crossing of a railroad across a public street or highway at-grade, the construction of a public' street' or highway at-grade across the tracks of a railroad corporation, the construction of a new grade-separated crossing of a railroad across a public street or highway that does not eliminate an existing at-grade crossing, or the construction of a. new grade-separated crossing of a public street or highway across the tracks of a railroad corporation that does not eliminate an existing at-grade crossing:.. 'Dated January 8,2004, at San Francisco, California. PLTBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA By WILLIAM AHERN Executive Director G.O. 88-B

4 Citv of PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Citv Hall ( David.Healev. Director. F-nn 2660 ~resrio ~ireet Fresno, California wrm*.fresno.gov June 27,2006 Mr. Marvin Kennix State of California Public Utilities Commission Consumer Protection and Safety Division Rail Safety and Crossings Branch 515 'l" Street, Suite 1119 Sacramento, CA Dear Marvin: SUBJECT: PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC SERVICE CENTER, FRESNO, CA This letter is being sent to request that Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) be allowed to alter the existing railroad crossing at the southeast corner of California and Orange Avenues in Fresno, Califomia. This alteration is needed in order to accommodate the site improvements that PG&E is constructing at their Service Center. PG&E has been working with the City of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley Railroad representatives on designing these alterations in an effort to meet the concerns of all parties involved. Following is the information required per General Order No. 88-B: 5.1 The Commission-assigned crossing number for this crossing is 103BC and the US Department of Transportation crossing number is The proposed alterations at this crossing are the removal of the existing gate and cant at the southeast corner of the intersection and the installation of a new gatelcant combination at the northeast corner of the intersection. 5.3 The current crossing configuration protects north-south traffic on Orange Avenue at the crossing, but does nothing to prevent east-west traffic that is on California Avenue frorn turning into a train at this intersection. The alteration of this crossing will greatly increade the safety of this intersection as vehicles traveling east and west on California venue will no. longer be able to turn north and potentially collide with a train. Installation of the proposed improvements will eliminate the possibility of the California Avenue traffic turning into a train. at the crossing, but still allow the traffic to move east and west when a train is at the crossing. 5.4 The number of trains that use this track,daily is very low and they travel at low speeds. It would, therefore, not be practical to make this a grade separated crossing. The cost of constructing a grade separation would not be warranted based upon the infrequency and speed of the trains on this track. The proposed alterations will protect all of the vehicles at this intersection and allowthe continued use of an abgrade. crdising. (=Jy:, ;?jy.,

5 Mr. Marvin Kennix State of California Public Utilities commission June 27,2006 Page The proposed alterations at this crossing include the removal of the existing #9A gate and cant at the southeast comer of the intersection, installation.of a new gatelcant conibination signal alorlg with a Standard #8 at the northeast corner of the intersection and replacement of the existing lights, gate arms and gate mechanisms at the northwest corner of the intersection. 5.6 The attached drawings show the existing conditions at the crossing. 5.7 The profile of the tracks and street willnot be changed by this construction, as we are merely removing and replacing the pavement adjacent to the crossing. The attached drawings show the proposed work. 5.8 Enclosed is a letter from the San Joaquin Valley RaiIroad Company's Chief Engineer stating that they.are in agreement with this work being constructed. 5.9 PG&E is contracting with Quality Signals to install the proposed improvements. During construction, Quality Signals will be providing lane delineators to direct traffic through the construction zone and will place adequate construction warning signs in compliance with the manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the City of Fresno standards We trust the above information meets the requirementsof General Order.88-B and provides an adequate description of the proposed alterations to this crossing.' The construction of this alteration will greatly increase the safety of this crossing, and we request that PG&E be allowed to implement these alterations. If there is any further action we need to take, please advise us so that we can'wntinue forward with this project. Should you have any questions or comments, please contact us. Very truly yours, v7-kzj Michael T. Kirn, PE Assistant DirectorlCity Engineer MTKfCJWearn Ltr M Kennix PUC Comm PGBE Svc Ctr Fresno Enclosure

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