JACKSONVILLE — Traffic flow in Waycross should improve dramatically with the implementation of a $5 million project that will move a railroad track from downtown where trains have blocked crossings for decades, the Florida Times-Union reports.
The City Commission voted Tuesday to join the Ware County Commission to approve spending $2.5 million in special purpose local option sales taxes on the project, officials said.
The work will begin in January and will include the removal of a 2-mile section of CSX Transportation rails that arc through Waycross’ main business district, the installation of additional traffic lights, crossing gates and road and track improvements, City Manager C.B. ”Bucky” Heys said yesterday.
With the removal of the tracks, 14 crossings that caused traffic backups and prompted drivers to crowd onto streets with overpasses will be closed, Heys said. The project is the culmination of work that began 23 years ago when Heys first came to Waycross as city manager.
“There was a study going on then but it priced itself out of the market,” Heys said.
That project was expensive because it called for the construction of a lot of overpasses. Although the next phase includes at least one overpass, the initial phase has none and traffic flow will instead improve with the double-tracking of an existing line, Heys said.
The changes will also allow CSX to move its trains through town faster, he said.
The Georgia Department of Transportation will provide some funding and the railroad will also spend to upgrade its internal operations to speed up rail traffic through its important hub in Waycross, Heys said.
City Commissioner Janice Parks, who will leave office Dec. 31, said her vote to spend $2.5 million in special purpose sales tax revenue on the project was one of the most satisfying she has cast in her 20 years in office.
“That one was such a relief to me,” she said. “I’m really excited about that. I worked hard on that committee. [City Commissioner] Clay Thomas did, too, and so did a lot of citizens.”
Parks praised the DOT for funding a traffic study that examined the concerns of people far beyond the city limits including those across the Satilla in neighboring Pierce County.
Taking the rail out of downtown will not just end some headaches, it will make it easier for people to get to the hospital, the post office and to carry out business in general, Parks said.
“My sleep will get a lot better,” she said of the train horns in the middle of the night.
Benny James owns the Sports Shop in Waycross and for 40 years has watched trains pass in front of his store.
James said he’s hopeful the removal of the tracks will help business but he knows that a lot of his income comes from CSX employees.
“The railroad has been mighty good to Waycross,” he said.
“The crossings have an effect on traffic. I think when the traffic can flow a little better, business will improve,” he said.
The railroad business has apparently been good lately because there seem to be more trains, some of them so long they can block crossings for a long time, he said. Steve Fleming, who runs Jake and Ed’s Men’s Clothing downtown, said he’ll miss the trains but not the crossings.
“Railroad crossings are dangerous even when they’re done perfectly,” he said. “I think that’s going to be better for everybody.”
Fleming said the trains have been part of the city for a long time. “They were here before me,” said Fleming, who has been at the store 40 years. “That’s what we grew up with, the trains.”