June 16. That troublesome rail spur on Highway 115 in Cornelius is being fixed but crews are running late. NC 115 was closed from 9 am until “after rush hour” while crews from Norfolk Southern and the NCDOT complete the job. Temporary detours were set up for motorists. On the south end of the road closure, crews blocked N.C. 115 just north of Bailey Road to allow access to the main entrance of FXI Foam plant. On the north end, the road will be closed just south of Meadow Crossing Lane.

Temporarily closing the entire road was supposed to produce a better product once the repairs are completed. Additionally, doing the work using lane closures would double the time necessary to make the repairs, according to town officials.

The detour for through traffic will direct motorists from N.C. 115 to Catawba Avenue, then from U.S. 21/Statesville Road to N.C. 73/Sam Furr Road and back to N.C. 115. Local traffic will still have access to both Bailey Road and Washam Potts Road.

The rail line, which carries freight in and out of the FXI plant, has been causing problems for both motorists and bicyclists due to large spaces between the rail and the highway’s asphalt. The poor condition of the crossing was reported by Cornelius Today in April.

During the repairs, Norfolk Southern will remove the old track, lay new track, and then pave between the rails and 10 feet on either side of the track. NCDOT maintenance crews will then come in with a contractor to resume the paving operations where the railroad’s work ended. Finally, the NCDOT crews will repave the road out to at least Norfolk Southern’s right of way, which will address the road’s subgrade issues at this location.