Railroad crossing work to close stretch of Dickson Street in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE -- A portion of Dickson Street will close this weekend as the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad begins the first phase of work on the railroad crossing there.

The project's first phase includes new crossing panels and rails, making the crossing smoother for vehicles.

Later this summer -- likely in late June -- gates that lower when a train passes through will be installed.

Work is set to begin at 7 a.m. Saturday and end by 9 p.m. Sunday, according to a city news release.

Cars will be rerouted along West and Gregg avenues to Lafayette Street. Pedestrians and bicyclists are encouraged to use a footpath between George's Majestic Lounge and Powerhouse Seafood & Grill to cross the railroad tracks.

Businesses will still be accessible by sidewalk. The Dickson Street entrances to the Depot and Walton Arts Center parking lots will be closed. Drivers will have to use entrances on West Avenue.

The Frisco Trail crossing, immediately east of the railroad crossing, will remain open, but Ron Sparks, with the railroad police, encouraged trail users to use extreme caution, because heavy equipment will be operating in the area.

Matt Mihalevich, city trails coordinator, said the Frisco Trail crossing will be moved about 10 feet away from the railroad tracks during the second phase of the project.

"They need enough space to put in a signal pole and gates that will come down between the trail and the tracks," Mihalevich said.

The City Council late last year agreed to pay $250,000 of the $561,000 project. Moving the Dickson Street trail crossing will come at the city's expense.

The Federal Railroad Administration rates the Dickson Street crossing as the most likely, among 18 railroad crossings in town, to have a train-vehicle collision.

There have been three collisions involving trains and vehicles at the crossing since 1999. The most recent, in September 2012, involved a 29-year-old woman. Police said the woman told them she didn't hear a train coming before it broadsided her Nissan Xterra. She suffered minor injuries. A metal fence along the Frisco Trail also was damaged.

The crossing features flashing lights and bells when trains approach. Those warning devices will be replaced when the new gates go in.

An average of four trains pass through the crossing daily, according to federal data. Trains are limited to a maximum speed of 10 mph crossing Dickson Street. In most other areas of town, they can travel up to 25 mph.

Nearly 13,000 vehicles cross the tracks each day, making the Dickson Street crossing the busiest in the city.

NW News on 05/29/2015

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