• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds


 







Railroad tracks removed from South Illinois, Emory Valley

Posted at 5:49 pm June 30, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

South Illinois Avenue Railroad Track Removal

A work crew from Rogers Group removes unused railroad tracks from South Illinois Avenue just south of Lafayette Drive and Scarboro Road on Saturday night. After the tracks were removed, the railroad crossing was repaved, and the road reopened on Sunday.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 6:30 p.m.

Unused railroad tracks that crossed Briarcliff Avenue, Emory Valley Road, and South Illinois Avenue were removed on Thursday and Saturday night.

Railroad company CSX split the traffic control costs with the city and paid to remove the tracks, Oak Ridge Public Works Director Gary Cinder said. In exchange, the city agreed to repave the roadways as part of street maintenance. The crossing lights were removed as well so that commercial vehicles, including school buses, no longer have to stop at the abandoned crossings and, in the case of school buses and other vehicles that carry children, open and close their doors before proceeding.

The project has been in the works for two years.

“We’re thrilled to finally get to this stage,” Cinder said last week. “It’s been a long time coming.”

South Illinois Avenue Railroad Crossing Removal

The crews used dump trucks, an excavator, and a cutting torch, among other equipment, to remove the tracks.

 

He said the final cost was not clear yet, but it wasn’t expected to be significant. The city worked with contractor Rogers Group Inc. on the project.

Cinder said there is a separate proposal to remove the tracks in front of the Y-12 National Security Complex, but the city will have to work with the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration to remove those tracks. Y-12 is an NNSA site.

In the next year, the city could work on smaller railroad crossings that don’t have signals, Cinder said. The city might be able to remove those tracks and patch the roads.

South Illinois Avenue Railroad Tie Removal

The work included removal of railroad ties.

 

It’s more evidence that the tracks are not coming back, said Kathryn Baldwin, Oak Ridge Community Development director. That gives the city more credence to ask for the railway property to be turned into a multi-modal pathway that could eventually be used by runners, bicyclists, and pedestrians for shopping, recreation, and commuting to school and work. The abandoned railway runs from Y-12 to the city’s waterfront at Melton Lake Drive. An initiative known as “rails to trails” was included in a bike and pedestrian plan approved in March 2011, but it wasn’t emphasized in that document because, at the time the report was drafted, the railroad was still connected to an active CSX line. But in the last few days of the study, CSX removed tracks that crossed Melton Lake Drive, Baldwin said.

Now, the line is not used, and it appears that it never will be, she said.

Baldwin said there were two actions by DOE and the federal highway transportation board that allowed the tracks to be removed from active roadways. First, DOE, which had the first right of refusal on the tracks, formally notified CSX that the department would not exercise that option on the section of railway from Melton Lake to the Y-12 entrance, meaning the department is not interested in the railway or the land, Baldwin said.

Second, the federal highway transportation board had to approve the project before CSX could make the line inoperable, Baldwin said. That approval has been obtained.

South Illinois Avenue Railroad Removal Work

The work started Saturday night and was complete by Sunday.

 

CSX still owns the right-of-way and any improvements in it. Baldwin said the city hasn’t requested the right-of-way, but preliminary discussions have started.

“We think this can serve as an alternative means of transportation,” she said. A trail where the railway is now would allows residents in neighborhoods like Emory Heights to ride a bike to Y-12 to work, and it would permit children in developments such as Hendrix Creek to walk or bike to Jefferson Middle School, for example.

Baldwin said she has requested the preparation of a master plan through the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization that could help determine access points, rest areas, and bike racks, and help determine where the right-of-way needs to be graded and how the project could be phased.

Baldwin said the right-of-way, if dedicated to the city, could be used even as a walking trail.

“It could be used even without massive improvements,” she said.

South Illinois Avenue Railroad Crossing Repaving

The work included the repaving of the former railroad crossing, which had been unused for years.

 

Filed Under: Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: abandoned crossings, bicyclists, bike and pedestrian plan, Briarcliff Avenue, crossing lights, CSX, DOE, Emory Valley Road, Gary Cinder, highway transportation board, Kathryn Baldwin, Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, Melton Lake Drive, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, Oak Ridge Community Development, Oak Ridge Public Works Department, pedestrians, railroad crossings, railroad tracks, Rails-to-Trails, Rogers Group, Rogers Group Inc., runners, South Illinois Avenue, street maintenance, U.S. Department of Energy, walking trail, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex historian Ray Smith

Advertisements

 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Government News

Current status of city facilities due to COVID

Oak Ridge officials continue to ask residents to conduct municipal business over the phone and by phone when possible because of COVID-19. On Wednesday, the City of Oak Ridge released an update about city facilities … [Read More...]

Rep. Fleischmann tests positive for COVID

Chuck Fleischmann U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, has tested positive for COVID-19. Fleischmann announced his positive diagnosis on … [Read More...]

Mason, an IDB member, community volunteer, dies of COVID complications

David Mason David Lane Mason, a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board and community volunteer, died of COVID-19 complications on Monday. He was 79. Mason was a former deputy director of environmental … [Read More...]

Tammy Dunn appointed Oak Ridge city attorney

Tammy Dunn The City of Oak Ridge has appointed Senior Staff Attorney Tammy Dunn as the next city attorney. Dunn assumes her new position this week, when current City Attorney Kenneth Krushenski retires, a press … [Read More...]

Anderson County Government Logo

AC Clerk, Trustee’s offices drive-through only temporarily starting Monday

Public encouraged to use online options The Oak Ridge offices of the Anderson County Clerk and Trustee will be temporarily closed to in-person transactions starting Monday for construction to help prevent the spread … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Controlled burns start this week on DOE land
  • Current status of city facilities due to COVID
  • Rep. Fleischmann tests positive for COVID
  • Oak Ridge man charged with second robbery
  • Mason, an IDB member, community volunteer, dies of COVID complications
  • Tammy Dunn appointed Oak Ridge city attorney
  • Which Wich closes
  • Obituary: David Lane Mason
  • Snow possible early Friday
  • Drone class to take flight this spring at Roane State

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today