Illinois plan lists five Chana railroad crossings for FY 2026 safety upgrades

Five railroad crossings in Chana are listed for planned safety improvements during fiscal year 2026 under the Illinois Commerce Commission’s FY 2025-2029 crossing-safety plan.

The projects would install gates at crossings on E Fowler Road, S Skare Road, E Hemstock Road, E Grist Mill Road and S Stone Hill Road. BNSF is identified as the railroad for all five projects, and the crossings are listed in Ogle County.

What is planned at each crossing

Gate installation is listed for all five Chana crossings. The E Fowler Road project also includes modifying the crossing’s flashing lights, adding a second type of warning-equipment work to that location.

Gates can provide a physical barrier in addition to a crossing’s warning signals. The planned improvements are part of a statewide program described by Illinois officials as supporting life-saving upgrades at highway-rail crossings. In Chana, the work would affect roads used by motorists, pedestrians and emergency responders, while also addressing safety where local roads meet BNSF tracks.

The five locations are spread across the community’s road network. Naming the crossings gives residents and people who use E Fowler Road, S Skare Road, E Hemstock Road, E Grist Mill Road and S Stone Hill Road specific places to watch for future project activity.

Estimated costs and timing

The plan lists an estimated total cost of $320,000 for each project. It also lists an estimated Grade Crossing Protection Fund, or GCPF, cost of $288,000 per crossing. Across all five listings, that represents estimated project totals of $1.6 million and estimated GCPF costs of $1.44 million.

Those figures are program estimates rather than final construction expenditures. The plan identifies FY 2026 as the fiscal-year timeframe for the projects, but it does not set construction dates, confirm completion, establish final costs or say whether every project remains on schedule.

The listings therefore mark planned work, not completed upgrades. Gates should not be assumed to be installed simply because the crossings appear in the plan. The project information also does not identify a local contractor or a traffic-closure schedule.

What the listing means for Chana

For people traveling through Chana, the most immediate development is the identification of five specific crossings for future gate improvements. The E Fowler Road project is additionally slated for flashing-light modification, while the other four listings call for gate installation.

Further project-delivery information will determine when residents, drivers and emergency responders see construction or changes at the crossings. Until that information is issued, FY 2026 remains the identified planning window for the proposed safety work.