KANNAPOLIS — Work continued on Monday to improve rail safety and to make way for faster trains with the installation of new, longer arms at the First Street crossing here.
City Manager David Hales hailed the new arms as a way to greatly improve safety at the crossing.
“Studies show that, at times, people are reckless in sneaking around gates” at railroad crossings, Hales said.“The new, longer gate arms will prevent that; you’d actually have to run through the gate.”
The improvements at First Street were part of Kannapolis’ agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation and coincided with other area municipalities’ reaching similar agreements with the state.
Those agreements include closing many of the at-grade crossings where accidents occur most. In Kannapolis, crossings have been closed at Plymouth Street, East C Street and Ebenezer Avenue, though City Council faced strong protests from residents.
At one point, two dozen residents picketed the council, complaining that council members had capitulated to the railroad. Some protesters also thought the state’s money could be better spent repairing local roads.
Other crossings have been improved with median-separation stakes — hard rubber stakes set along the middle of the road leading to a rail crossing — that prevent drivers from moving into another lane to cross the tracks.
Others got gate arms, but none like the ones used at the First Street crossing, Hales said.
Hales said improvements yet to be done at the Universal Street crossing between Main Street and Ridge Avenue might include turn lanes on both roads. An engineering firm is studying the feasibility of an overpass there.
The changes are classified as near-term and long-term, with more closings possible in the future as the state makes more improvements.
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