A railroad crossing at County Road 800 North just north of Taylorsville will get flashing lights and gates next year under a funding partnership.
The Bartholomew County Commissioners on Monday approved a contract with the Indiana Department of Transportation for proposed safety improvements at the crossing, which is located about a half-mile from U.S. 31. It currently only has stop signs to warn motorists as they cross.
The project, which is expected to cost up to $400,000, will require the county to pay 10 percent of the amount, which will come out of the highway fund, said county engineer Danny Hollander, who was contacted about two weeks ago regarding the matter.
INDOT has made an effort across the state to fund railroad crossing improvements, said Harry Maginity, spokesman for INDOT’s southeast Indiana district.
Under the U.S. Highway Safety Improvement program, INDOT looks at railroad crossings based on site statistics and observations on an annual basis in determining how to use federal funds that are made available, Maginity said.
INDOT will also contribute $1,000 in funding for warning signage and pavement markings at County Road 800 North as part of the project, he said.
Eighteen of 53 railroad crossings in Bartholomew County are under the county’s jurisdiction, said County Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz, who felt improvements could be made at several of them.
Of the 18 crossings, two — one at County Road 450 South and another on Deaver Road — have gates. Two other railroad crossings at County Road 550 North and County Road 650 North have flashing lights, but no gates at the locations, Hollander said.
“Johnson County has made an effort to do all their crossings,” Hollander said. “It’d be cost-prohibitive to do all of them at once. A lot of ours are very low-traffic.”
Bartholomew County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop also said he would like to see more safety improvements at other railroad crossings across Bartholomew County, including at Spear Street near the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds, which only has stop signs, Hollander said.
“Once the frequency of the trains go up, that could be another crossing,” Lienhoop said.
Hollander said INDOT hadn’t identified the Spear Street crossing as one targeted for improvements, but indicated it could receive safety measures if another project were bumped off the list.
“They gave me the impression it was probable, but you never know,” Hollander said.
A $30 million overpass will be built at the State Road 46/State Road 11 intersection to deal with a projected increase in train traffic traveling at higher speeds through Columbus starting later this year.
INDOT has agreed to pick up half of the cost, while the city of Columbus, Bartholomew County, Cummins Inc. and the Louisville & Indiana and CSX railroads are contributing the remainder.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”County-maintained railroad crossings” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
There are 53 railroad crossings in Bartholomew County, 18 of which are under the jurisdiction of the county.
Those are:
County Road 1100 South at the county line
County Road 850 South
County Road 800 South
County Road 650 South
South Street
County Road 450 South
County Road 400 South
Deaver Road
Dawson Street
Spear Street (half jurisdiction in conjunction with the city of Columbus)
Garden Street/County Road 100 South
County Road 450 North
County Road 500 North
County Road 550 North
County Road 650 North
Mill Street
County Road 700 North
County Road 800 North
Source: Bartholomew County Engineer
[sc:pullout-text-end]
