If you’re like me, you’re tired of having to realign your front end every time you drive over a railroad track. We have several major crossings here in District 8. The rail companies are notoriously slow in their replies, and a city has to fully fund all repairs on their behalf. I’ve been working on two of these crossings since 2017, but I’m happy to say that we are finally making headway on repairs.
SH78/Lavon @ Buckingham Rd In 2019, you funded repair work with the passage of the 2019 Bond Program. On January 5th, 2021, the council will vote on the expenditure of $249k to fund replacement of the panels underneath the track. Afterward, our major street contractor will finish the replacement of the concrete that borders the track and provide a smooth transition. I have not heard of any council concerns about this repair, and I hope for speedy passage of this agreement.
First Street @ Castle – Old Track We have an asphalt-filled track on First St near Williams Stadium that has been out of use for a number of years. We’ve entered into an agreement with KCS rail to remove the track and replace it with concrete pavement. This agreement allows the rail to retain their rights to the crossing, and they may be allowed to re-establish a spur there in the future. We’re rolling this replacement into our ongoing repair of that road, which helps us keep the project cost down.
SH78/Lavon @ Naaman School Rd Recently we’ve had a bit of movement in the pavement when traveling westbound on Naaman School Road. This crossing is scheduled to be rebuilt as a part of the larger Naaman School Rd rebuild project. That project is currently underway. Right now our contractor is creating detailed engineering schematics and pursuing property acquisition on our behalf. Once the detailed schematics are available, I’ll share them here. This is a $34m project, with funding coming from a variety of sources. Special thanks to the County Commissioner JJ Koch for championing county funding for this project, and saving the Garland taxpayers well over $10m. We are going to provide temporary asphalt repairs at that crossing in the short term, with the intent to fully replace it during the project in 2021-2023.
Other Crossings Outside of our district, we’re pursuing the retirement of the abandoned rail spur west of Shiloh and Miller Rd (District 6), as well as ongoing repairs on S Shiloh Rd near IH-635 (District 5). I’m also working with the District 2 rep on First St/Walnut, which is just south of the District 8 border.
Your feedback on rail crossings is what is driving these repairs, and I’m happy to see meaningful relief on the way. Please continue to reach out about infrastructure issues within the city.
-RJS