May 18. By Dave Vieser. A troublesome rail crossing on Hwy. 115 just north of Bailey Road will be repaired on Tuesday June 14. The road will be closed from 9 am to 4 pmwhile crews from Norfolk Southern and NCDOT complete the work. Temporary detours will be set up for motorists.
The line, which brings rail cars in and out of the FXI Foam 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.
That’s good news for those who travel regularly through that area. “The deterioration of the road is awful but most drivers do not realize the damage the vehicles are receiving because they drive too fast passing through the site,” said Nelson Acosta Sr. of Cornelius.
During the repairs, Norfolk Southern will remove the old track, lay new track, and then pave between the rails and 10 feet out from each side of the track. DOT maintenance crews will then come in with a contractor to resume the paving operations where the railroad’s work ended. Finally, the DOT 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.
According to DOT spokeswoman Jordan Ashley Baker, crews will complete the work in one day between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. in an effort to avoid impacting morning and evening commuters. On the south end of the road closure, crews will block N.C. 115 just north of Bailey Road to allow access to the main entrance of FXI. On the north end, the road will be closed just south of Meadow Crossing Lane.
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.
Should inclement weather occur the day of the closure, the work will be rescheduled for the next dry day.
In addition to the rail work, DOT officials will look at whether the rail spur needs to be equipped with crossing arms in the future. Such a decision would rest on the number of times the spur is used daily, plus any possible fiscal restraints in the DOT’s 2017 fiscal year budget.
For real-time travel information the day of the work, call 511, visit the Traveler Services section of NCDOT.gov or follow NCDOT on Twitter.
