§390. Railroad grade crossing improvement and elimination; notification

A. The secretary shall complete a study of all public railroad grade crossings to establish priorities for improvement, relocation, or closure in compliance with federal guidelines and shall develop a prioritized plan for implementing railroad grade crossing improvements, relocations or closures pursuant to 23 USC 130, known as the Federal Railroad Crossing Safety Program. The priority list shall be annually revised to reflect any changes made under the provisions of this Section. The department's plan shall be conducted in accordance with federal guidelines and Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 646 relative to railroad-highway projects.

B.(1) The department, when it determines that it is necessary for the safety of the public, may improve, change the location of or abolish any existing public grade crossing on any state-maintained highway; however, prior to taking such action, the department shall take the following actions:

(a) Notify any and all affected persons owning land that is within a two- mile radius of the public grade crossing proposed to be improved, changed, or closed.

(b) Post a notice at the grade crossing proposed to be improved, changed, or closed.

(2) No provisions of this Section shall impose any liabilities of any nature upon the state of Louisiana or any agency thereof, nor shall any action or omission of the department be discoverable or admissible in any state court in Louisiana, and no record or document of the department compiled or prepared in connection with actions taken by the department pursuant to this Section, R.S. 48:390.1 or 23 U.S.C. 130 shall be discoverable or admissible in any state court in Louisiana.

C. - E. Repealed by Acts 2005, No. 347, §2.

F. No railroad company operating in this state shall be authorized to close any public railroad grade crossing along Louisiana Highway 23 in Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes before December 31, 2006, and no such closure of a public railroad grade crossing along this route shall be closed unless the closure of such crossing has been deemed necessary by the Department of Transportation and Development pursuant to an evaluation conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Section or R.S. 48:390.1.

G.(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, R.S. 48:390.1, or any other provision of law or rule to the contrary, the closing of a railroad grade crossing by a railroad company shall not be considered interruption for purposes of acquisitive prescription, and any crossing closed by a railroad since January 1, 2006, shall be re-opened upon the attainment of thirty years peaceful and otherwise uninterrupted use or possession of servitude of use or passage across the railroad grade crossing with or without just title.

(2) For the purposes of this Subsection, a crossing shall include a private rural residence or agricultural crossing or other means of access over the railroad right-of-way.

H.(1) A railroad corporation owning or operating a railway in this state, which is constructed across the land of any person leaving a portion of the land of such person on either side of its right-of-way, shall, when ordered to by the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, allow said crossing to remain open at a private rural residence or agricultural crossing or other means of access over its right-of-way.

(2) The Department of Agriculture and Forestry shall promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation of this Subsection no later than January 1, 2009.

I. The department shall, no later than December 31, 2012, promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act and subject to oversight of the House and Senate committees on transportation, highways, and public works, to implement the provisions of Subsections A, B, F, and G of this Section, including but not limited to notice, whom to notify, methods of notice, and posting requirements.

Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 78, §1; Acts 2005, No. 347, §§1, 2; Acts 2008, No. 718, §1, eff. July 6, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 773, §1; Acts 2012, No. 406, §1.