(1) Whenever a railroad company, city, county, the department of transportation, the parks and recreation commission, or the commission seeks to take any of the following actions at a railroad-highway grade crossing, it must file a petition with the commission seeking approval under RCW 81.53.020 and 81.53.060:

(a) Opening a railroad-highway crossing at-grade, or by constructing an overcrossing or undercrossing;

(b) Closing a railroad-highway crossing;

(c) Constructing supplemental safety measures under RCW 81.48.015(1), including, but not limited to, median barriers;

(d) Realigning highway or railroad tracks;

(e) Widening highways;

(f) Constructing multiple tracks; or

(g) Changes to crossing surfaces that alter:

- The dimensions of an existing surface;

- The angle at which the tracks intersect a highway; or

- The vertical alignment of a crossing (i.e., to accommodate track superelevation, or changes in railroad or roadway grade).

(2) Whenever a railroad company, city, county, the department of transportation, the parks and recreation commission, or the commission seeks to take any of the following actions at a railroad-highway grade crossing, it must file a petition with the commission seeking approval under RCW 81.53.261:

(a) Modifying or upgrading warning signals or devices;

(b) Adding a crossing signal;

(c) Adding gates to a crossing signal;

(d) Modifying or upgrading circuitry for a warning signal; or

(e) Installing an intertie between railroad crossing signals and highway traffic signals.

(3) This rule applies to all railroad companies, including logging and industrial railroads, however, it does not apply to crossings within the limits of first class cities, unless federal funding is used at the crossing.