Petition seeks to close railroad crossing

North Rome residents say a closure at Callahan Street would prevent trains from blowing their horns at all hours.

A study is underway to determine if the railroad crossing on Callahan Street should be closed to traffic.

“It’s a quality-of-life issue,” said Tracy Monroe, who brought a petition from neighbors to the Rome Public Works Committee.

Trains approaching an atgrade crossing must sound their horns to warn drivers from at least a quartermile away. Monroe said they come through at all hours of the day and night, and he believes the struggling North Rome area would attract more homeowners and businesses without the constant clamor.

“What we’ve got now is what’s called ‘the broken window phenomenon,’” he said. “If people think no one cares about a property, it will get worse.”

Jenkins said engineers have the option to sound

their horn anyway, and would likely still do it occasionally even if the crossing is closed. Fatalities at that location — three since 2013 — have involved pedestrians rather than cars.

But he’s conducting a traffic count and checking with people who would be affected, including business owners, public safety officials and the Floyd County water crews based nearby. He’ll report back to the committee with a recommendation.

“They will grant this request if we ask,” Jenkins noted. “The railroad loves to close intersections. But if we need to reopen it later, we won’t be able to.”

Closing the intersection to traffic would be a minimal cost, he said, compared to reconfiguring it as a “quiet zone,” where trains would be forbidden to sound their horns. That would require major safety upgrades such as four-way crossing arms, pedestrian bars, powermonitoring and possibly a median.

A proposal to establish a quiet zone between the Callahan Street and Darlington Drive crossings was presented to the 2017 SPLOST Citizens Advisory Committee. However, the panel did not include the $2.75 million earmark in the special purpose, local option sales tax package.

Russ Gates, a business owner who submitted the documentation, said as many as 14 Southern Railways trains go through the area every day. Along that stretch, there also are atgrade crossings on Second Avenue, Maple Street and East 12th Street.