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BREAKING NEWS: CSX postpones planned work on two major railroad crossings in Winder

Posted by

Susan Norman

in Top Stories & Breaking News, Winder Archives

Thursday, March 29. 2012

Comments (12)

A spokesman at the corporate office for CSX Transportation Inc. told the Barrow Journal that his company has postponed next week's planned maintenance of two busy railroad crossings in Winder. Lt. Rob Currot, operations commander for the Winder Police Department, contacted the newspaper on March 29 to ask for help in alerting the public about the planned closings of the Broad Street crossing on April 2 and the Horton Street crossing on April 4.

The newspaper sent an email to CSX spokesman Gary Sease to find out how long the crossings would be closed. A few minutes later he said this in response: "We are not going to be doing those crossings at this time after all. They will be scheduled in the future, and coordinated with the city and county."

CSX has been under fire this week over the work performed at some crossings in Statham and Barrow County. Last week, three car haulers loaded down with vehicles got stuck on tracks in Statham and Barrow County.

The company has refused public officials' requests to come back and taper some of the asphalt whose elevated pitch has hung up the trucks.

This, in fact, was the response that Sease sent the newspaper on March 28: "The work on the crossings was completed to specifications. If additional road work is necessary, CSX will provide flagging services at no cost. Flagging is necessary to protect the safety of workers around an active rail line."

The Georgia Department of Transportation on March 28 announced it would post warning signs to divert low-clearance vehicles from the downtown Jefferson Street crossing, where two trucks were trapped last week, to the one at 8th Street in Statham.

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#1 Yea - GREAT Solution -- NOT on 03/29/12 at 04:56 PM [Reply]

So you will have semi trucks go down to 8th street and make that turn from one narrow neighborhood street to another narrow neighborhood, drive thru a residential area, pass a school zone to get back on 211. Why not just send them down to Pleasant Hill Church?

#2 The right way, the wrong way on 03/29/12 at 05:03 PM [Reply]

everybody else has to do things right, why is CSX exempt. Do they not have to follow State laws also. Is their work not engineered and policed by the State like everyone else's. They clearly built a lot of the crossings wrong, when they could have easily built them correct without the steep grades and drops. Are they exempt from State law, it looks as though they are. Maybe Mr. England needs to look into this. In any event, good work Journal! getting this out in the open.

#3 Anonymous on 03/29/12 at 07:47 PM [Reply]

The State has no bearing on interstate commerce...It's federal.

#3.1 I di no thaaaat on 03/29/12 at 09:01 PM [Reply]

If that is true, then we might as well forget it and plan on driving around Tom's barn to get to where were goin. Dang, the Railroads rule since the cowboy days, we are at their mercy sad to say.

#4 Anonymous on 03/29/12 at 10:16 PM [Reply]

The railroad crossings are private property. CSX owns the track and 30 feet on each side of the rail. They work with public authorities, but a large corporation such as this knows their rights and can afford to defend them vigorously.

#5 Mike on 03/29/12 at 10:58 PM [Reply]

why not repair railroad crossings at night while the traffic volume is low. they also should have a state dot road inspector ok their work.

#5.1 Anonymous on 03/30/12 at 05:49 AM [Reply]

The crossing in Statum was closed for about a week. Hard to do that at night!

#6 Andy Sarge on 03/30/12 at 10:52 AM [Reply]

Yes it is under Interstate commerce so Federal law applies. HOWEVER, if it is a state route, then there would be a plan on file with the State DOT for the crossing and the state would sign off on the plans. That DOES NOT mean a crossing must be usable by ALL vhicles. Generally a commercial truck route would be designated thru town and CSX could not arbitrarily change the specs on it.

#7 TickedOff on 03/30/12 at 12:06 PM [Reply]

The real issue is the by-pass, or lack thereof, in Barrow Co. With the exception of the new intersection at Midland and Hog Mountain Rd (near Pine Hills) theres not enough room for a tractor trailer to completely clear a track lengthwise. Pretty pathetic. And quite frankly the new crossings are rougher than many of the old ones. I actually observed one of them being paved and it was worse than a bad patch job.

#8 1911A1 on 03/30/12 at 03:53 PM [Reply]

I used to know someone who worked for them, called it the "Chicken $#!t Express."

The fact is, thanks to 19th century laws, railroads are above/exempt from many of the laws that govern the rest of us. So yeah, they can do pretty much as they please (including keeping the public in the dark.)

#9 stuko on 03/30/12 at 04:03 PM [Reply]

You can specify something to be made out of doo doo, but that don't make it right. Dummy

#10 mark my words on 03/30/12 at 04:41 PM [Reply]

I wish there was a way to force them to build a tunnel through Winder. The crossings kill what little of the city there is left.

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