By Betsy Finklea
Residents of the community of West Countryside Drive came to voice their concerns about the potential closure of the railroad crossing on West Countryside Drive and to hear from a representative of CSX on the issue at a recent meeting of the Dillon County Council.
Mary Miller, who spoke on behalf of the West Countryside Drive community, said there were five families living on their side of the tracks, and three of the families are in their 60s and 70s. She said there were three businesses on their side of the tracks and farmers use the road throughout the year moving their equipment to plant and harvest their crops.
Miller voiced the concerns of the neighborhood families.
“In case of emergencies we want the ambulance, the fire trucks, and law enforcement to get to us as quickly as humanly possible to save a life, save a home, or stop a criminal,” said Miller.
“If the crossing is closed, emergency vehicles will have to go further down Highway 301 to the overhead bridge or get through the heavily congested area at Love’s Truck Stop and turn off Highway 34 onto Dothan to get to us. Of course, this will take more time than just coming straight down our road. In recent times, some of our families have already experienced life-threatening situations and the fast response of emergency vehicles likely saved their lives,” said Miller.
Miller also stated that if the road became a dead-end road, their property values will plunge. “Who wants to live on a dead-end road?,” she asked.
Miller then gave their reasons for keeping the crossing open. They included:
1) The unrestricted access of emergency vehicles.
2) The unrestricted response from county law enforcement for our safety and protection.
3) The convenience of open road to Highway 301 for two-way traffic.
4) To prevent the inevitable decline of our property values.
5) To avoid predictable adverse affects on the businesses on our road.
6) To retain our present mail delivery.
7) To keep our rural neighborhood intact.
Miller said they knew what to do when they get to a railroad crossing and that she knew of no accidents there in many years if ever. “So why close the crossing because of safety concerns?,” she asked.
“We support the Inland Port because it can potentially bring other industries into Dillon County and create jobs that we sorely need. We simply don’t see how keeping the crossing open would have any adverse effect whatsoever on Inland Port,” she said.
“We are asking you to keep the crossing open as it is vital in so many ways to life as we know it on West Countryside Road. We love our rural neighborhood. Help us keep it as it is,”  Miller said.
Miller named the families of West Countryside Road which include Paul and Emily Moody, Aaron and Amy Musselwhite, Buck and Joy Campbell, Martin Alvarez, and Mike and Mary Miller.
Dillon County Council Chairman Archie Scott said the comments had not fallen on deaf ears.
John Dillard, a representative of CSX, then spoke. He said he heard and understood the residents’ concerns.
Dillard said the potential crossing closure came about when working with the Ports Authority and others to develop the site.
Dillard said they determined what they needed to effectively serve the site from the CSX main line which currently runs through the county. He said what they need is a siding off the main line to effectively enter and exit the port property.
Dillard said basically the main line is like a one lane road. He said what they need is an exit in the form of another railroad track to get in and out of the port facility.
He said they looked at the design to see how long the second track needed to be to not only serve the port from day one, but to accommodate the future growth of the port in that area to accommodate additional rail or industrial users. He said as a company, they are looking also at the growth of their business over time and what that means long term in the ways we serve the inland port.
       Dillard said they decide on a 16,000 foot siding adjacent and west of the main line from approximately Fairfield Road to South of Dothan Road. He said if one looks at that area, it goes right though Countryside and Skip Drive. He said that was when the county was approached about how feasible it would be to close the crossings given that they need the capacity to enter and exit now and to serve the port and others in the future.
       Dillard said if it is feasible and affordable it is best to serve as much capacity as you can in the first round rather than piecemealing additional capacity. He said if one is showing that area to potential customers then showing the existing capacity is usually a positive and benefit for them to say that CSX can serve their future business or whatever future business comes into the port.
       Dillard said with that come these concerns and they understand that. He said they don’t come to the council lightly asking to close the crossings. He said they understand the impacts, and it is a tough thing to do. He said they hoped they can work cooperatively to get that done so we can all see the benefits of potential growth in the future in the right way. He said there are some safety benefits to reducing the number of crossings.
       Dillard said from CSX’s standpoint that is what led them here today with this request – to have enough capacity to efficiently serve the port and others today, tomorrow, and in the future.
       Councilman James Campbell asked if it would stop the inland port from coming if that road was opened or closed.
       Dillard said he didn’t think keeping the crossing open would stop the port from coming, but it would significantly change the design in place and could delay the opening of the port. He said from CSX’s standpoint it was economically feasible to do this from the outset so they would have the capacity in place to accommodate future growth.
       No one from SCDOT appeared.