Shelby Co. leaders working on solution to blocked railroad crossings in Brantleyville

SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - Blocked railroad crossings in Brantleyville are continuing to rise causing lots of frustration in the community.

Now, Shelby County leaders are stepping in to help.

City leaders are asking the public to be patient as they work with the property owners to buy land that’s not for sale to make a road the public can use when that crossing is blocked.

The issue is that when County Road 260 is blocked by a train, there are no other ways out on any public roads.

The county commission is now working with three property owners to purchase about 4 miles of land to build an alternative dirt road for drivers and emergency vehicles whenever there is a block crossing.

This will connect County Road 260 and County Road 22.

David Willingham, Shelby County engineer, said so far one property owner has agreed to the purchase, but the county is waiting for the other two before they can begin working.

“If you had an emergency but didn’t have access to emergency medical teams, how bad that can be. So, we are working as quickly as we can to get this solution in place so that doesn’t happen,” Willingham said.

County leaders are still in the early stages of the project, but they are hoping it will be available and ready to use late summer.

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