Bradley County commissioners are expected to resume discussion on Norfolk Southern’s request to close the southernmost railroad crossing on Weatherly Switch Road in southeast Bradley County.CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Bradley County commissioners will continue today their review of a Norfolk Southern proposal to close a railroad crossing at Old Weatherly Switch Road on the rail line between Cleveland and Cohutta, Ga.
County officials, who have been considering the closing since mid-November, recently heard opposition from the daughter of Mary Thomasson, whose 10-acre property would be split by the closure.
“The other residents of the area have admitted that this would just be an inconvenience for them if they had to drive around,” said Olivia McLaurine. “For my mother, or whoever owns the property in the future, it’s going to create hardship.”
Norfolk Southern wants to close the crossing because there is another one less than 1,000 feet away on state Highway 317.
Closing the crossing would make the rail line safer, Norfolk Southern spokesman William Miller told local officials last month, while driving to the other crossing on Highway 317 will take less than two minutes.