Railroad crossing repairs will force drivers to reroute around two intersections this week.
The intersection of 10th Avenue North and Railroad Street will close Wednesday while the intersection of 14th Avenue North and Railroad Street will close Thursday, Eddie Appleby, Columbus and Greenville Railway assistant roadmaster, told The Dispatch.
Each intersection will be closed for about a day, with detours planned around the work, Appleby said.
“We’ll be tearing that section of track out and then replacing it with new asphalt,” he said.
Crews with C&G Railway will remove rotted wooden crossties from under the tracks and fill around those tracks with asphalt to create a smoother crossing area for cars to drive over.
Kevin Stafford, city engineer, said cars in the residential area will be rerouted around the planned closures likely to Military Road or Seventh Avenue North for detours.
The city and its residents have voiced concerns for more than a decade regarding railroad crossing conditions, specifically the damage poorly maintained crossings can do to vehicles, Stafford said.
Stafford said he was glad to see progress finally being made in fixing some of C&G’s railroad crossings that have caused issues in the past for drivers.
“We had been asking for 10th Avenue and 14th Avenue to be done … and so I guess this is them just now getting around to it,” Stafford said. “But regardless, we appreciate them doing it. But if you look on the other end down at 14th Avenue, probably seven or eight years ago now we asked if they could upgrade that crossing (too). … So my hope is still that they come back (and do that one as well).”
Other improvements
Stafford said C&G did similar repairs last year to its crossing on Seventh Avenue North and Railroad Street.
Moving forward, Stafford hopes C&G, along with other rail lines in the area, including Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited and BNSF Railway, will build on this crossing work and continue addressing other railroad intersections, including on Highway 69 at its other intersection with 14th Avenue North.
Since the railroads are private property of the rail lines, Stafford said the city has not had much say over when these larger repairs are made. Though the rail lines in the past have been responsive to smaller issues with the crossings as they have arisen.
“There’s several crossings in town that all need repair, and it’s all on the contractor, and of course mainly the railroad’s responsibility for that,” Stafford said. “… The city has no control over the railroad. We can’t make them do anything. … I do think it’s gotten better. … So it’s just one of those things. It’s just the way the railroad is, and we try to work with them as best we can.”
While there aren’t any plans for C&G Railway to address other intersections in its purview, Appleby said he expects repairs to be addressed in the future as needed.
Stafford said there are plans from CPKC to repair its Highway 69 railway intersection by the end of the year since it has received the necessary Mississippi Department of Transportation construction permit for that work.
“It is their responsibility,” Stafford said. “… And they prefer that too. I mean, they know how to fix their stuff. Again, it’s just their timing and our timing is not always the same.”
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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 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
