The Abingdon City Council held a town hall last night to take comments from residents on possibly closing a railroad crossing that has some residents concerned.
The city would get some incentive money to close the Sanitary Street railroad crossing.
Many of the residents at the town hall said they don’t want Burlington Northern Santa Fe to close the railroad crossing.
Farmers in attendance complained that using the overpasses makes it difficult to move equipment to and from their fields.
BNSF employee Daniel Sanchez told residents that closing the Sanitary Street crossing was for “safety” reasons.
But he tells WGIL that with three overpasses nearby, it’s more an issue of convenience.
“I’m not saying it’s unsafe,” he says. “I’m just saying that one of the best ways to reduce incidents, or a chance of incidents in general, is to close crossings.”
But resident Denise Dorothy says the crossing’s closure would create more safety problems people drive fast on the Martin Street overpass near her home on South East Street. She also says it will endanger people because some people don’t read newspapers or emails.
“I feel there’s going to be more accidents by closing it because people are not going to know it’s going to be closed.”
Mayor John Dejaynes says nothing has been decided yet.
The city council is expected to vote on the issue next week.
