Bartholomew County is planning improvements to five railroad crossings, adding cross arms and flashing lights to reduce vehicle-train collisions.
All were chosen because each carries more than 400 vehicles a day, meaning they have the highest traffic volumes among rural railroad crossings.
The crossings are:
County Road 800N, about a mile east of West Presidential Way near the Indiana Premium Outlet Mall.
County Road 650N, near Depot Street in Taylorsville
County Road 550N, just east of U.S. 31
Spears Street, in the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds area.
County Road 950S (Jackson Street) at the Jonesville town limits
After voting in favor of approving the arrangement, Bartholomew County commissioner Tony London gave a sigh of relief.
“I am thrilled to see all of this upgrading going on,” London said. “The railroad crossings are long overdue in Bartholomew County in my opinion.”
Officials with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad are “chomping at the bit” to get these new safety measures up for motorists, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said. At some of the crossings, there is a locked railroad car that contains the necessary equipment to install the arms and lights, he said.
While Hollander says he expects the arms and flashing lights to be installed no later than this summer, he made no promises because there’s red tape and paperwork to go through before work crews are given the go-ahead to proceed.
The flashing lights and arms have become especially important to the railroad since Louisville & Indiana leased the tracks to CSX for high-speed rail on the line from Louisville to Indianapolis.
It has taken a number of years to receive the federal funds that will pay 90% of the costs ($240,000 per crossing) to obtain and install the safety equipment. For three of the crossings, Bartholomew County taxpayers will pay the remaining 10% ($24,000 per crossing), while the railroad is providing the 10% match on the remaining two crossings.
Commissioner’s chairman Larry Kleinhenz reminded residents that in the last three or four years, Bartholomew County has experienced multiple fatalities at railroad crossings in recent years. In fact, four individuals died within five weeks in late 2018.
Crossings scheduled for upgrades last year were along county roads 400N, 450N and 500N.
