FDOT shifts Alachua road projects

 

CSX crews started to weld the rails for a crossing on SR 235 but the project has been delayed by the FDOT and rescheduled for after Jan. 1, 2016.

ALACHUA – The Florida Department of Transportation directed CSX Corporation railroad company on Tuesday to put the brakes on replacing the crossing at State Road 235 and Peggy Road in Alachua.

On Sept. 28, CSX began welding new rails with the intent of starting the actual replacement process on Oct. 12. But the next day, the FDOT contacted CSX to inform the rail company that the crossing replacement project is being postponed until after Jan. 1, 2016.

According to CSX Spokesperson Kristin Seay, “CSX was just notified by FDOT that they are postponing this crossing until after January 2016, due to a conflict with detours for some road work on I-75.”

Drivers heading north on SR 235 have gotten used to swerving wide to the east side of the crossing to avoid the uneven pavement and rail connection. They’ll have to wait another few months before the crossing gets smoothed out.

According to FDOT Spokesperson Rebecca Leigh White, the FDOT decided both projects happening at the same time would create too many detours and lane changes at once and, for safety and convenience of the drivers and the community, they put the I-75 resurfacing project ahead of the rail crossing.

“The work under the overpass would have been part of the detour route for the railroad replacement,” White said.

The contract start time for the I-75 resurfacing project started ticking on Sept. 18, White said.

“The part of the I-75 resurfacing project between south of SR 222 in Gainesville to just north of 441 will connect to the current resurfacing project there,” White said.

In the end, the $11.4 million FDOT resurfacing project will upgrade more than 60 miles between Columbia County and Ocala, White said.

The FDOT is in the process of notifying media with details on dates of construction and traffic pattern changes,” White said.

The project in Alachua at I-75 and U.S. Highway 441 will last about three months, she added.

As for the rail crossing, Seay said that CSX will be completely rebuilding the structure.

“They have to tear out all of the crossing material that is there now,” she said. “The ties, the rails. They’ll be putting in new rails and ties and then putting fresh concrete over the crossing surface and repaving the approach to the crossing on both sides.”

“The State identifies the schedule for how long crossings are expected to last and it’s just time for this one to be rebuilt,” Seay said.

“They base it on expected wear and tear and the amount of traffic.”

“A bulletin will go out prior to the road closure,” Seay said about when CSX picks up where they left off.

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