BNSF pays county to close crossing

Written by jrood

February 14, 2001 BNSF recently paid Buchanan County, Mo., $50,000 to close a railroad crossing off Missouri Highway 45 by Sugar Lake, the St. Joseph, Mo., News-Press reports.

The railroad company also plans
to spend half a million dollars to upgrade the crossing at the intersection of
U.S. Highway 59 and 45 – just east of Atchison, Kan. BNSF will add signals and
bars to the crossing and widen the road to accommodate two vehicles, leaving
the maintenance to the county.

"(The crossings) don’t have
signals or lights or anything. Some of them are pretty hazardous," Presiding
Commissioner R.T. Turner said. "(BNSF is) going to give us money to go right
back into upgrading our roads."

The railroad company plans
to examine similar crossings that lack signals and bars farther up 59 toward
St. Joseph. If BNSF and county close any more crossings, the railroad company
has promised to build an outer road that still would allow farmers access to
their fields.

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