Pike County railroads get a makeover
Published 4:00 am Saturday, March 14, 2015
Starting Monday, CSX will begin work on several of the county’s railroad crossing.
Ray Porter, with Benchmark Consulting, said CSX would begin doing crosstie replacements on several railroad crossing in Brundidge and throughout the county beginning Monday and lasting up to two weeks.
“(The project) is scheduled for two weeks,” Porter said. “The project will run from just outside of Ariton and just south of Troy.”
The railroad crossing will be shut down for approximately two to three days at a time, and Porter said residents who use the streets with an affected railroad crossing would need to find alternative routes.
“The construction will impact County Road 73, County Road 4423, Pauline Street in Brundidge, John Street in Brundidge, East Troy Street or AL Highway 10 and College Street in Brundidge,” Porter said. “Then we have a couple of private streets that will be worked on. Then we have County Road 4408. As of right now the last crossing is State Route 201.”
“CSX crews will be installing new rail ties, resurfacing the crossings and repaving them with asphalt,” Kristen Seay, CSX media relations for Alabama, said.
The refurbishing efforts are part of a nation-wide campaign, Seay said.
County engineer Russell Oliver said the county was at the company’s mercy when it came to the railroads.
“We have zero control over what they can do within the railroad right-of-way, so we’re kind of at their mercy,” Oliver said. “We will all have to be patient and hope that they can finish quickly.”
Seay said maintaining the railroad’s infrastructure was critical to prevent accidents, injuries and minimizing service disruptions.
“CSX spends more than $1 billion annually on improving and maintaining track, bridges, signals and other equipment to keep freight moving safely and reliably,” Seay said. “We appreciate the patience of community residents as we complete this work as safely and efficiently as possible.”