The southern most railroad crossing on Weatherly Switch Road in southeast Bradley County, Tenn., may be closed soon.CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Norfolk Southern would like to close its railroad crossing on Old Weatherly Switch Road in southern Bradley County on the rail line between Cleveland and Cohutta, Ga.
Earlier this week, a railway representative met with county commissioners to discuss the proposed closure, including increased safety and financial assistance.
“Anytime that you can eliminate a railroad crossing, you effectively eliminate the chance that anything’s going to happen there as far as a vehicle getting hit,” said William Miller, manager of grade crossing safety for Norfolk Southern.
The railway would like to close the crossing because there is another crossing less than 1,000 feet away, on state Highway 317, also named Weatherly Switch Road, Miller said.
Besides the redundancy of a nearby crossing to the north, the targeted crossing also meets a low traffic volume threshold. The daily traffic count for the Old Weatherly Switch crossing is 110 vehicles, according to Tennessee Department of Transportation data gathered in 2008, Miller said. The Federal Railway Administration recommends railroads consider closing crossings that are used by fewer than 2,000 vehicles per day.