It is unlikely that Columbus councilmen will consider a proposal to close railroad crossings on Southside this year, but options remain on the table and the situation may be re-addressed in 2014.
Nearly two months ago, a group of residents spoke out against a proposal from Kansas City Southern Railway and Mississippi Department of Transportation officials to fund safety upgrades at six crossings while permanently barricading six others. KCS public safety director Allen Pepper told residents in August that he had project funding “this year” that he had to spend for capital improvements. The proposal was for KCS to upgrade crossings at Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, 11th, 15th and 22nd streets for roughly $40,000 while MDOT installed safety arms and flashers at those same locations for about $200,000.
The plan also involved Second, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, 10th and 17th streets being closed permanently on KCS’ dime. Pepper said that a decision needed to be made by September, and that work would need to begin before the end of this year, for the project to be eligible for funding.
A majority of the locations in question are in Ward 1 councilman Gene Taylor’s territory. On Monday, he said it would probably be next year before the city and KCS could come back to the table and resume negotiations.
“I wouldn’t say it’s dead in the water,” Taylor said. “As far as I’m concerned, the negotiations will never be closed…I don’t think it would be smart for the city to say we’re not going to negotiate anymore or that we’re closing the chapter of this book.”
Columbus chief operations officer David Armstrong agreed, saying the city was keeping its options open but making a decision was “not something we’re working toward right now.” Armstrong does not expect the issue to surface again this year.
In a study conducted in 2008 by engineering firm Neel-Schaffer, the largest increase in traffic if the closings occurred would have been about 5 percent on Seventh Street, city engineer Kevin Stafford said in August. Volume would have increased on the roads left open but would have decreased overall, Stafford said.
Taylor said if there is an opportunity again next year to improve crossings through outside funding, he would want more suggestions from the public.
“(I would want to) get the community more involved in the activities of what’s going on from day one,” he said. “I’d try to get the county involved, Paccar, Severstal, Eurocopter — those that are really using that railway to ship products involved from a safety standpoint.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.