After a change of heart, Selma town leaders now support closing a railroad crossing
A dozen years ago, the owners of the Bailey Feed Mill asked the town and the N.C. Department of Transportation to close the East Preston Street railroad crossing. The move would prevent people from driving through the company’s complex next to the tracks, eliminating what the owners called a safety hazard.
But the Town Council at the time voted 3-2 to keep the crossing open. The majority said the company’s concerns about safety were overblown and opted to preserve a shortcut between the center of town and the U.S. 70 interchange with Interstate 95.
Now the town has joined the mill’s owners in asking NCDOT to again consider closing the crossing. NCDOT will hold a public meeting on the idea Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Selma Town Hall.
The town’s position on the crossing has changed since the council vote in 2012, said Rhonda Sommer, the interim town manager.
“The current Town Council is in support of the closure and believe this railroad crossing to be unsafe due to conflicts with activities at the feed mill,” Sommer wrote in an email. “We all believe the public safety concerns outweigh the inconvenience of not being able to cross at this location.”
There’s nothing inherently unsafe about the East Preston Street crossing. There are warning lights and crossing arms that activate when a train passes on a straight section of the CSX main line through Eastern North Carolina.
But beyond the crossing, south of the tracks, East Preston Street passes through the Bailey Feed Mill complex, which includes a network of railroad tracks that cross the street at several points. Keeping people from driving through what is essentially a small freight railroad yard is the ultimate goal of closing the crossing and the street to through traffic.
“Since 2012, the Bailey Feed Mill business has increased substantially resulting in a significant increase in commercial vehicles as well as train car movements within the mill’s complex where the crossing exists,” NCDOT spokeswoman Lauren Haviland wrote in an email. “There are two sets of tracks, one at the main line where freight and passenger trains run and another set of tracks that handle traffic specifically for the feed mill. The roadway between the two sets of railroad tracks is a safety concern for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.”
NCDOT says it would close East Preston Street, install guardrails on either side of the CSX railroad and create a new turnaround area beyond the feed mill’s property.
Closing the crossing would cut off direct access between the mill and the rest of Selma. But the town erected signs prohibiting through truck traffic on the residential side of East Preston Street years ago, so trucks come and go on the south side already.
When the closing was first proposed, opponents said it would benefit the feed mill more than the public. Among those speaking out was Johnston County Industries, a nonprofit company that trains and employs people with disabilities, whose headquarters on East Preston is adjacent to the mill. JCI said closing the crossing would isolate it from the rest of Selma.
The company’s current president and CEO, Bill Sharek Jr., said that’s still the case.
“JCI’s position has not changed nor have the concerns expressed in 2011,” Sharek wrote in an email. “We will share those same concerns at the public meeting next week.”
In addition to Tuesday’s meeting, NCDOT will accept questions and feedback on the proposed closing through March 13. People can contact NCDOT Rail Division project engineer Conzuela Cogdell at 919-707-4123 or cbcogdell@ncdot.gov or by mail, 1556 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1556.
