Decatur’s long-anticipated railroad crossing improvements at Candler Street and North McDonough will begin in September and take nine months to a year to complete.
Both crossings, each with two intersections, will get smoother slopes on approaching the tracks. Occasionally in past years a truck or bus has gotten stuck on the tracks, and in a few cases trains have hit a vehicle.
Decatur’s railroad traverses a ridge that’s the sub-continental drainage divide, with water on the north side draining into the Gulf of Mexico and water on the south draining into the Atlantic.
There will also be bicycle/pedestrian/wheelchair accessible crossings on both sides of McDonough and Candler, located outside the crossing gates (currently pedestrians share the roadway with vehicles). Installation of new traffic signals will provide protected left-hand turns on all legs of the two crossings.
Total project budget is $2.66 million.
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