Rest of city RR crossings set for repairs

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The remaining railroad crossing set for reconstruction and other work are expected to be completed starting next Wednesday, September 30.

According to Van Wert Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming, the Genesee & Wyoming and Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern railroads will complete work on the remaining railroad crossing improvements in the coming week. The railroads, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) and the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) provided the estimated $1.5 million in funding to do the work.

Four crossings — North Washington, North Jefferson, North Wall and North Shannon — were completed back in June, with all four being reconstructed, while the North Washington crossing also received a concrete deck.

Railroad crossings to be reconstructed next week include those on North Walnut, North Cherry and North Tyler streets, while crossings on North Market, North Race, North Franklin and North Wayne streets will be reconstructed and also receive new warning lights and crossing gates.

According to information provided earlier, crossings will be reconstructed from the base up with asphalt and some railroad ties have also been replaced.

In addition to the reconstruction work, five of the city’s railroad crossings will be closed. Those include Anderson Avenue and Pleasant, North Vine, North Chestnut and North Harrison streets.

According to Fleming, the railroads are providing a crew of 18 workers to get the crossings completed quickly.

“The plan is to close all of them, except Franklin, on Wednesday,” Fleming noted. “They will focus first on Wayne so it can be opened up for the weekend; once Wayne is open, Franklin will be closed.”

The safety-service director noted that workers currently plan on completing asphalt work on the crossings on Monday and Tuesday, October 5-6.