NEWS
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Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 644-0306
telephone or fax (614) 728-4520
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/
Contact: Stu Nicholson
(614) 644-0513
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 11, 2005
Licking County Gets RR Crossing Upgrades
(Columbus) – Licking County motorists who use State Route 37 will have one less reason to have to clench their teeth or visit their mechanic for a front-end alignment. The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have given the Ohio Central Railroad the go-ahead to re-surface the railroad’s grade crossing with SR-37.
A much smoother concrete crossing will replace the crumbling pavement. The work will require closing the crossing and setting up a detour for several days. About five to six trains a day use the crossing. SR-37 is a very heavily used north-south route for both cars and trucks and feeds into Interstate 70, several miles south of the crossing.
Another Licking County crossing will be getting state-of-the-art lights and gates. The Ohio Central Railroad crossing at County Road 668 / Brownsville Road currently has only lights and standard crossbuck signs, and sees about five to six trains a day. ORDC has told the railroad it may begin construction, which normally takes a year to complete.
(The Ohio Rail Development Commission is an independent agency operating within the Ohio Department of Transportation. ORDC is responsible for economic development through the improvement and expansion of passenger and freight rail service, railroad grade crossing safety and rail travel & tourism issues. For more information about what ORDC does for Ohio, visit our website at http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/ )