FRANKLIN, Va. — Six bone-jarring, axle-jolting railroad crossings have spurred residents into a letter-writing campaign seeking relief, the Virginian Pilot reported.
CSX and Norfolk Southern tracks lace this city of 8,300. Wary residents slow to a crawl as they approach the crossings.
“Someone is going to break an axle on these crossings,” said Rob Wilson, Franklin’s public information officer.
Now the city is asking residents to pick up, sign and return preprinted letters requesting that CSX and Norfolk Southern repair the crossings.
“We have tried to get answers for a year but keep hearing that they have a whole lot of work to do and it is a question of scheduling,” City Manager Bucky Taylor said.
Wilson said the repair of four crossings was approved in June 1999, a few months before Hurricane Floyd flooded downtown Franklin. The other two crossing repairs were approved in 2001. The railroads are responsible for doing the repairs.
The city will pay 10 percent of the bill, with the Virginia Department of Transportation funding the rest.
Cost estimates range from $20,250 for the CSX crossing repairs at College Drive to $131,663 at the Norfolk Southern crossing at North High Street. Work will include lights, gates and roadwork.
Timbers, rubber grid panels and iron rails have been stacked near the CSX crossing on College Drive for a year, but no work has begun.
“CSX has told us they do not have the people or money to do their portion of the work,” said Joe Ketron, rail projects engineer with the Department of Rail and Public Transportation in Richmond. He added that while the Norfolk Southern crossings have been approved, the College Drive crossing is the only CSX crossing to have full authorization. The other two CSX crossings are awaiting federal approval or CSX agreement.
“There are thousands of grade crossings on the CSX system, and we try to keep them in good repair,” said Bob Sullivan, a CSX spokesman. He said CSX would look into the Franklin situation to see “what, if anything, needs to be done.”
Susan Bland, Norfolk Southern’s public relations manager, said miscommunication caused much of the delay with the railway’s three crossings. She said the three crossings are slated for signal and surface upgrades in mid-November.
Taylor, happy to hear that some repairs have been scheduled, is not ready to abandon the letter-writing campaign. “We are still collecting the letters because we have no written commitment, and if it seems appropriate we can send them if we need to,” he said.
To pick up form letters or for information, call 562-8512.