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One option might be to make the lanes under that RR bridge one way. Split the traffic somewhere nearby, direct one direction of lanes under the bridge and the other direction would "cross over" somewhere else, up to 1/4 mi away, and probably to the west of the Salem/55 intersection.
Having a bottleneck by the bridge won't do the road any favors, I hope the people at NCDOT and CSX realize that. Now what they could do is they could just finish and widen all of Apex Peakway, much like what they did with Maynard in Cary, and just divert all traffic there.
Finishing the Apex Peakway would definitely help the bottleneck at the railroad bridge. Has anything further been said about completing it?
Finishing the Apex Peakway would definitely help the bottleneck at the railroad bridge. Has anything further been said about completing it?
All I know is they are going to have a real battle on their hands trying to build the massive overpass from the Peakway over Old US1 out by Whitehall Manor and the farmland out that way.
Finishing the Apex Peakway would definitely help the bottleneck at the railroad bridge. Has anything further been said about completing it?
The Southern portion with the bridge over the RR tracks is scheduled for 2019. I don't see anything on the planning site for the SE corner connecting Center Street to Williams.
All I know is they are going to have a real battle on their hands trying to build the massive overpass from the Peakway over Old US1 out by Whitehall Manor and the farmland out that way.
Wait WTF??? They need an overpass for that intersection??? Omg what a big waste of time and money. I don't get what the railroad companies have against at-grade intersections, like hardly any trains use that railroad anyways...
I don't get what the railroad companies have against at-grade intersections, like hardly any trains use that railroad anyways...
If you have a relative who's a locomotive engineer, you'd know why. Almost every locomotive engineer who has had the job for 20+ years has watched someone die in an automobile and been the first person to look inside for survivors, plowed into a heavy truck with a derailment that follows, etc. It happens all the time. Amtrak alone has about one a month somewhere in the nation. The freight railroads have far more. From the perspective of railroad management, then the lawyers get involved and even if the railroad has no strict liability, it takes years and costs money to defend against the inevitable lawsuits.
Grade crossing signals are expensive to maintain -- people keep breaking the arms by driving through them -- and are not foolproof.
You are correct that at present the railroad line between Cary and Hamlet does not carry many trains... two passenger trains per day, two freight trains per day, and the occasional extra train as well as local switching. But if the Southeast High Speed Rail project is built between Raleigh and Petersburg, Va. in pursuit of four-hour passenger train service between Raleigh and DC, there is an agreement that CSX will be able to run freight trains over that track -- and some of those trains would continue south to Hamlet. Even if that doesn't happen, all it takes to drive more freight traffic onto the line would be a major new industrial plant between Raleigh and Norlina.
Last edited by wizard-xyzzy; 05-11-2017 at 12:35 AM..
I agree with everything Wizard said and would like to add that a number of coal ash trains
use that line as well. Granted they don't come to Apex but they do use that line.
I've talked to several railroad engineers and they all said it's not IF you hit and kill someone,
it's WHEN you hit and kill someone because it will happen. Grade crossings are a magnet for
stupid people who can't wait three minutes for a train to pass by. That bridge is money
well spent! Think how much traffic would back up if it were a crossing there as busy as that road is...
Quote:
Originally Posted by bingocat1000
Wait WTF??? They need an overpass for that intersection??? Omg what a big waste of time and money. I don't get what the railroad companies have against at-grade intersections, like hardly any trains use that railroad anyways...
One option might be to make the lanes under that RR bridge one way. Split the traffic somewhere nearby, direct one direction of lanes under the bridge and the other direction would "cross over" somewhere else, up to 1/4 mi away, and probably to the west of the Salem/55 intersection.
I like your thinking. The only thing is that if that were done they would still have to build a tunnel or bridge close by for the other direction of traffic. I guess CSX is not allowing a ground crossing?
The current agreement between Apex and CSX is that for each ground crossing that is added, 3 have to be closed. So while it's not theoretically impossible to add a new at-grade crossing, it's not really practical.
The current agreement between Apex and CSX is that for each ground crossing that is added, 3 have to be closed. So while it's not theoretically impossible to add a new at-grade crossing, it's not really practical.
Right, so that's obviously off the table. I mean I don't think 55 should have a ground crossing anyway. The only real solution I see is for DOT to replace the CSX bridge. I wonder if they'll seriously consider that and if so what the cost would be.
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