After years of traffic congestion and damaged vehicles, the Azalea City will finally see relief from their railroad crossing woes. The new overpass couldn't make motorists happier.
The railroad crossing on Saint Augustine Road is just one of many well-known nightmares for motorists. The sign says “rough crossing ahead” but many motorists say the sign doesn't give drivers adequate warning of what lies ahead.
Larry Hanson, the city manager, says, “Well, for many years our community has struggled with access to really one of our large industrial parks. The CSX railroad has a switching yard and so the train is part of the issue, but what's even more a major issue is that the cars and the trains switch."
Three million SPLOST dollars later, folks in Valdosta can expect to see an overpass which will be much kinder to their vehicles and keep traffic moving.
Ann Evans, an upset driver, says, "I used to go to work there on this road all the time and every morning I'd get stopped by that train. It could be an emergency or whatever."
Don't expect to see construction for another two years, but city officials say railroad track repairs are underway to fix the poor road conditions and ease traveling conditions.
Officials say the overpass will cost around $13 million. The city is currently in the process of selecting an engineering firm to begin designing the Saint Augustine overpass.
