News Release
Date: July 17, 2001

Railroad crossing near Chalybeate Springs made safer

RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has installed flashing signals and automatic gates at the Rawls Church Road (SR 1415) crossing of the Norfolk Southern Railway near Chalybeate Springs.

Installation of the new equipment cost $99,100 with 90 percent provided by the Federal Government and 10 percent by the state. Norfolk Southern and NCDOT will split the cost of maintaining the protective devices.

Norfolk Southern schedules two freight trains daily over the Rawls Church Road crossing. The trains may operate at speeds up to 35 mph.

The project is part of a comprehensive statewide program to enhance highway safety by adding or improving signals and gates at public railroad crossings. Mechanical warning devices of some sort are now in place at 2,386 of North Carolina's 4,470 public crossings.