Vote on closing of Seventh Avenue railroad crossing set for Tuesday

ALBANY – With the clock ticking, Albany city commissioners are indicating they will deny a request from Norfolk Southern Railway to permanently close the Seventh Avenue railroad crossing that has been out of service since the spring.

The railroad petitioned to have the crossing closed for good in October, giving the city 60 days to respond. At least two commissioners and Mayor Bo Dorough say they are looking at denying the request.

During a public hearing on the matter in November, three businesses that use the crossing to access the Liberty Expressway and have had roundabout drives to do so since the closing, voiced their opposition to a permanent closure.

During that hearing, a railroad representative said that safety was the reason behind the request for the closure.

“There are a few businesses in the area east of that crossing, northeast of that crossing, that said they can’t get to where they work,” Dorough said.

One business operator also brought up safety concerns: In the event of a medical emergency, the extra distance it takes to reach the area could mean a longer wait time for emergency medical services to reach the location.

“I’m going to vote to deny it, for several reasons,” Dorough said.

There would seem to be some room to try to make a deal. If the city denies the request, Norfolk Southern would be required to repair and re-open the crossing to allow the Georgia Department of Transportation to perform a study, according to Assistant City Manager Bruce Maples. The company also has indicated that it might be willing to contribute some funding toward a project that would provide alternate access to the east side of the tracks.

On Friday, a pile of gravel sat at the eastern edge of the crossing.

It is not clear that the railroad company has been working to re-open the crossing since the time it notified the city of its intent to close the roadway in April, Dorough said.

“They didn’t respond to our enquiries for several months,” the mayor said. “I’m not convinced they did the work. It seems to me like it was a pretext.”

City Commissioners Vilnis Gaines and Chad Warbington also said during telephone interviews on Friday that they are planning to vote no.

“The citizens clearly spoke (at the November hearing),” Warbington said. “It hurts a good number of businesses and citizens over there. It is causing a good deal of inconvenience.”

Norfolk Southern requested the closing of the Third Avenue and Seventh Avenue crossings in 2018. The city denied the request, and ultimately the Georgia Department of Transportation granted an appeal that required the closing at Third Avenue.

At that time, the railroad did not pursue an appeal at Seventh Avenue.

The commission will vote on the issue during its Tuesday evening meeting.