SELMA – The Selma Town Council has approved a Crossing Closure Agreement with the NC Department of Transportation and CSX Railroad.
The NCDOT and CSX will permanently close the East Preston Street railroad crossing to vehicle traffic.
Earlier this year, a public meeting was held to gather input on the permanent closure.
The Town of Selma and Bailey Feed Mill support the closure. The mill has expanded in recent years, increasing rail and commercial truck traffic to the site. Closing Preston Street will address traffic and safety concerns at the busy crossing.
Under the agreement, the NC DOT and CSX will construct turnarounds on the eastern and western sides of railroad, construct a guardrail on the eastern side, and resurface the western side. The work will take place at no cost to the town.
Interim Town Manager Phillip McDaniel said the closure date has not been announced. That decision, he said, will be made by the NCDOT.
Property owners win, nearby residents lose, “busy crossing” traffic gets bottlenecked onto already busy Anderson St and Ricks Rd. I’m glad I don’t live on the wrong side of that crossing.
Next up: Ricks Rd or Lee St in Smithfield.
Anyone ever heard of a bridge. Seems to me ncdot is notorious for making changes that have a negative impact on local travel. 70 hwy between Smithfield and Princeton has closed the crossovers. For years it’s been decided to build service roads. They’re continuing to kick the can down the road to prioritize developers elsewhere. Then to top it off the nchp refuses to enforce the speed limit in that area and people are dying. The money’s being spent on these modifications is from the emergency safety fund. If it’s safer pleas produce evidence. I’ve spoken with ncdot and they tell me the delays on 70 hwy access ramps and service roads are a political issue and now is pushed out 8 more years. So now we are forced to make u turns on 70 while facing 80mph traffic. Or driving a maze of back country roads with unlimited heavy truck traffic hauling dirt to 42, flowers plantation and anywhere else but here for us.