A clear sky. Low 62F. Winds light and variable..

A clear sky. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.

John Steiniger, far left, chief engineering officer at Keolis, shows, from left, Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga, Council Vice President Sean Nolan and state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr a concept drawing of a new paint scheme for the Washington Street train crossing.

The train passes by as state, local and T officials talk about the concerns of the Washington Street train crossing.

State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, right, and Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga listen to John Ray, right, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for commuter rail and ferry operations, as he explains how the road crossing signals work at the Washington Street signal in Gloucester.

John Steiniger, far left, chief engineering officer at Keolis, shows, from left, Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga, Council Vice President Sean Nolan and state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr a concept drawing of a new paint scheme for the Washington Street train crossing.

The train passes by as state, local and T officials talk about the concerns of the Washington Street train crossing.

State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, right, and Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga listen to John Ray, right, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for commuter rail and ferry operations, as he explains how the road crossing signals work at the Washington Street signal in Gloucester.

With dozens of anecdotes shared on Facebook involving train gates hitting cars at the Washington and Exchange streets crossing this summer, hardhat-wearing MBTA Commuter Rail and Keolis Commuter Services officials and engineers stood at the crossing to address concerns.

While they stood with Mayor Greg Verga, City Council Vice President Sean Nolan, and state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, the sound of a train horn heading to North Station sounded.

The train stopped at Gloucester Station, triggered the gates, and after a 43-second stop, the train passed through the crossing without incident as the gates stayed down the entire time. As soon as the gates went up, a car honked for the traffic to move.

On hand was the MBTA’s Mike Muller, executive director of commuter rail, and John Ray, assistant general manager for commuter rail and ferry operations.

They said they plan to make the crossing safer with additional striping for extra visibility to make sure drivers don’t try to cross without enough room to get through.

“Just because the gates go up doesn’t mean the gates won’t come back down again,” Ray said. “So, go through, but make sure you can go all the way through before you enter the area and we’ll paint that so it’s very easy for people to decide whether they in fact can get clear.”

Tarr said Washington Street is one of the busiest streets in the city, making the grade crossing one of particular concern.

“And as you know we have had a lot of reports about incidents that are happening with the gates coming up and going down and obviously there is a little bit of a dance that happens here in order to keep traffic flow moving right where the gates go back up while the train is in the station and then we’ve had a tail ring where when the train starts to move a little bit, the gates come back down and that’s caused some confusion,” Tarr said.

But Ray said there was another issue beside a tail ring, and it has to do with timing.

“Right now, when the train makes a station stop,” he said, “the gates will stay down while the train is in the station … and then the gates will come back up after the train clears the crossing.”

Typically, Ray said, engineers will have the timing set so it’s about 45 seconds before the gates time out and go back up to let traffic pass.

“The problem is it’s about the same amount of time it takes to stop, unload and board people here, so the gates will go up and within seconds after that the train starts moving again. As soon as the system detects the train is moving, it puts the gates back down.”

“So the first car or maybe the second car can get onto the crossing and then the gates start coming back down again. It confuses people,” Ray said. So they have adjusted the gates to stay down long enough for the train to make a station stop and start moving again, so the gates won’t go up until the train clears.

The difference in the number of extra seconds in the single digits, Ray said. The added delay won’t add much time to how long the gates stay down which city officials have been concerned could back up traffic.

Tarr said if there is an incident, residents should report it first to the MBTA.

“Don’t think that if you go on social media and say something you have reported it, because that does not give anything to work with,” Tarr said.

Ray said federal law requires emergency notification signs at every grade crossing. The signs have a 1-800 number with the unique number for the grade crossing. Ray said the plan is to install a much larger sign there. He said if motorists report a problem right away, signal maintainers can respond quickly.

Not only that, he said dispatchers can put a “stop and protect” order on the crossing so no train can come through before stopping and making sure the way is safe.

Last week, the City Council voted 8-0 on an emergency measure asking the MBTA to station crossing personnel or transit police at the crossing. In the event the T could not staff the crossings, councilors asked the agency to fund paid details of city police or firefighters.

“It’s totally unnecessary is what it comes down to, right?” Ray said. If a crossing is out of service, he said, the T will hire a detail or place signal maintainers there to protect the crossing.

The crossing gates are much more reliable and have proven themselves over decades, Ray said.

“This thing works when it needs to work at all times in all weather,” Ray said. Tarr stressed drivers should know the failsafe is for the gates to stay down if there is a problem.

Ray noted there are plans to make signal improvements along the entire line from Beverly to Rockport starting on Oct. 15 to Dec. 18, requiring riders to ride shuttle buses during that period.

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