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Atlas for Cities

Railroad crossing updates for Polk County, Iowa

What changed at the railroad crossings in Polk County, on one page: weekly record changes, quiet zones, blocked-train reports, grants and train activity.

FRA crossing inventory of .

Public crossings
154
Public crossings reported with gates
35%
Most trains a day reported
29

See the public crossings in Polk County

Latest changes

Week of 19 October 2026: 1 crossing here had a recorded change.

  • Train counts updated1

Earlier weeks

  • Week of 28 September 20261 crossing

Dates show when a change was observed in the federal inventory, not when it happened.

Weekly changes in Iowa

Get updates

Follow Des Moines, the town in Polk County with the most public crossings. Its weekly changes then show in Saved.

Or add the weekly changes for Polk County to a news reader: Weekly changes feed for Polk County (opens in a new tab).

Quiet zones

None of the 154 public crossings here is listed in a quiet zone.

The quiet-zone status did not change at any public crossing here in the last 5 weeks.

A town’s quiet zone can start or end before the inventory catches up.

Quiet zones in IowaQuiet zone changes this week

Trains blocking crossings

Iowa law limits a train to 10 minutes blocking a road crossing, under Iowa Code § 327G.32. We found no Iowa court ruling on this limit. Courts elsewhere have held similar limits preempted by federal law, so it may not be enforceable against railroads. Checked 16 October 2026.

The FRA lists 695 reports of trains blocking public crossings in this county.

Reports to the FRA by year

  • 20191 report
  • 2020154 reports
  • 202189 reports
  • 2022172 reports
  • 202388 reports
  • 202493 reports
  • 202547 reports
  • 202651 reports

Reports through . FRA does not confirm the accuracy of the blocked crossing reports submitted to this portal. This collection is not designed to provide a representative sample or create generalizable statistics. The data gathered from this collection is not suitable for use in budgetary requests, nor regulatory proposals.

Blocked crossing rules in IowaHow to report a blocked crossing

Upgrades and grants

Federal grants listed for Polk County show below. The Polk County crossing page lists crossings named on state grant lists.

Federal crossing grants in this county

These grants are listed for the county. A grant that covers several counties is listed in each of them with its full amount. The grant papers do not name a crossing number.

Make a grant table of the crossings in Polk CountyOpen the Polk County crossing page

Train activity

See about how many trains a day pass near the middle of Polk County (the center of its public crossings), from counts the railroads report.

Check train activity near the middle of Polk County

Send us an update

Work for a city or county? Send us a new or changed quiet zone or blocked-crossing rule. We check it against the official source before it shows on the county page.

What changed?

County: Polk County, Iowa

Fill this in when the rule is a city or town rule. We show it with the update.
The 7-character numbers from the federal crossing inventory, like 053852A. Separate them with commas or spaces. Up to 50.
A page or PDF on an official website, such as the ordinance or the meeting minutes. It starts with https://.
Anything we should know when we check it.

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Who we reply to

We use these only to reply to you. They are never shown on the site, and we delete them 90 days after we answer.

To send a PDF of the ordinance or ask a question, email atlas@tansolutions.org.

Sources: Federal Railroad Administration crossing inventory and blocked crossing reports. Sources and dates