Thought i’d share this and someone could answer it.
This street is under construction by my house in CA. The lane closest to camera is closed. Other lane is open. Both crossing arms work.
I’m guessing there’s some regulation where if street/crossing isn’t fully functional then they put a flare down. Makes no sense to me since arms are down. You think the flare is to stop cars in case the arm wasn’t down, like someone would run into the train if the flare wasn’t there? Funny to me. First time i saw this the brakeman got out of the cab to throw the flare. This time was too lazy, just dropped it.
Anyway, i was curious so i thought i’d ask.
Here is link to vid: