rhett butler/the daily reflector
Marc Hamel, left, with the state Department of Transportation, talks with Greenville resident Cathy Campbell about the possibility of new railroad tracks as they look at a map during a meeting at the Eppes Recreation Center on Tuesday evening.
Train blockage at Arlington Boulevard and Howell Street could be reduced by 85 percent if plans to change rail operations in Greenville go forward, a state Department of Transportation engineer said Tuesday.
Transportation officials and consultants reviewed plans to streamline train travel through Greenville during a Tuesday afternoon citizen informational workshop at Eppes Recreation Center. The event brought out 17 citizens, elected leaders and local government staff members to inspect the preliminary proposals for the two projects.
"It sounds like there will be as many trains, but it won't be as long a wait," said Ben Day, manager of R.E. Michael Company Inc., which is near the West 14th Street rail crossing.
Greenville city officials, the transportation department and local railroad representatives have spent several years discussing ways to limit traffic problems caused by trains moving through Greenville. CSX Transportation and Carolina Coastal Railways are the two companies that operate in the city.
The main problem involves moving trains from northbound lines to eastbound lines and trains on westbound lines to southbound rails.
Currently, train operators must move cars and engines from one track to another, an industry practice known as "building" a train, at a switching station between Arlington Boulevard and Howell Street. A transportation department study showed the work has blocked crossings at those locations for more than an hour on occasions, said Nancy Horne, NCDOT's project engineer.
An economic study by the transportation department showed a wye connector - rails that connect perpendicular tracks - at 14th Street will eliminate the need to stop trains and move cars, speeding up the flow of train traffic.
"I think the wye will reduce the blockage at Howell and Arlington by 85 percent," Horn said.
Day said he and other R.M. Michels employees have endured 20-minute waits driving to and from work because of train traffic blocking 14th Street.
"We've never missed opening, but we have got there at 7:29 and the store is suppose to open at 7:30," he said.
Another project would move the switching station between Howell and Arlington to an area north of N.C. 903 South. Moving the switching station outside city limits also will reduce traffic blockage, officials say.
The proposal received support from Cliff Kendall, a committee chairman with the Mid-East Rural Planning Organization, a group that works on transportation issues involving rural communities.
"Any improvements in transportation infrastructure are always, almost a direct benefit for people," Kendall said.
If travel through and work around Greenville can be streamlined, he said, businesses can offer more economical and efficient service to customers.
"I think NCDOT's rail division has done an excellent job with this," he said.
An environmental review of the proposal will continue for six months. Marc Hamel, a state transportation official, said wetlands have been found in the area around N.C. 903 South, but nothing suggests the sites could create problems for the project.
If the project receives a green light after the environmental review, the final design must be completed, and property acquisition must be done.
It doesn't appear any extra land is needed for the proposed switching station at N.C. 903 South, but the city of Greenville is negotiating with those who own property needed for the 14th Street wye connector.
The Greenville City Council in June gave its staff attorney the go ahead to seek the land through eminent domain, a legal proceeding that allows governments to obtain land for public projects. However, the council urged its attorney to continue negotiations for the immediate future.
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Needless to say, this will help ease the ongoing traffic blocks from these trains in the morning and evening hours, especially helping with the flow of school traffic at JH Rose High and South Greenville Elementary. These tracks have became some of the most widely discussed problems in Greenville's traffic community. For more community information, news, events and school stuff, visit www.1SearchMLS.com
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