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ROSE HILL — As part of his health routine, Timothy Edmonson of Rose Hill rides his bicycle around town. He found out the hard way that not all routes are safe when he crossed the railroad tracks at the corner of Railroad and Church Streets. Edmonson said the crossing is in such bad shape that he almost damaged his bicycle and could have injured himself.
Concerned over the safety of the crossing, Edmonson called the toll-free CSX Railroad number posted on poles beside the tracks for reporting problems. He made multiple reports over a period of time. That was about two years ago.
“Those ties are about eight-by-eight (inches), so when you’ve got a section that’s rotted, that’s a big cavity to ride over on a bicycle,” Edmonson said in an interview with the Duplin Journal. “It’s beyond splintered — it’s deteriorated. It’s almost like having a big pothole in the asphalt.”
Duplin Journal tested the crossing in a sedan, driving at a slow speed of approximately five miles per hour. The experience felt similar to driving over a curb, suggesting that traveling at a higher speed could seriously damage a car’s suspension system.
Edmonson took his concern over the crossing to the Rose Hill Board of Commissioners meeting last Monday during public comment period. He quickly discovered he was not alone in trying to get CSX Railroad to repair the crossing. Mayor Davy Buckner responded to Edmonson’s remarks saying he and at least two town commissioners have contacted CSX about the problem, but have had no success.
During the interview with Duplin Journal, Edmonson said he personally spoke with a rail worker on-site and explained the situation, mentioning that he had already reported the issue. The worker responded, “Yeah, you have to keep on them.”
Duplin Journal reached out to Austin Staton, CSX director of media relations, by phone. He later responded with an email.
“I wanted to let you know that we have alerted our engineering team to the concerns and someone from our team will go out and review the crossings in the area to determine what can be done in the near term,” Staton wrote in the email. “I also wanted to let you know that CSX works hard to address crossing concerns in a timely manner. Many factors affect the pace and scheduling of crossing repairs, such as weather, equipment and resource availability. CSX invests heavily in infrastructure maintenance to (ensure) the safe, reliable movement of trains, and the safety of our employees and the communities where we operate.”
