White County Addressing Bumpy Hwy 111 Crossing

Be aware of a bump in the road if you drive across the railroad tracks on Highway 111 in White County.

An asphalt failure has occurred where the roadway joins the railroad tracks. County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said a permanent fix to the situation won’t be available until this spring.

“So we had to go in and re-work a little bit of that asphalt and grind it down,” Robinson said. “But hot mix isn’t being made right now because of the weather. It’s not a good time of the year to lay that down. So we’ve got it ground down and smoothed out to help it temporarily until the asphalt plants get back up and we can repave it.”

The Tri-County Railroad Authority spent $250,000 to address the rough railroad crossing in December 2018. Robinson said repairs have held up, but the asphalt that joins the crossing hasn’t.

“The railroad authority owns the railroad track and 10 feet on each side,” Robinson said. “It’s kind of challenging when you’re trying to pave a six to seven foot spot and get that to match everything, and plus make that durable to hold up.”

Robinson said a permanent fix will involve blending in the repaved section so it matches the railroad crossing and the rest of the roadway.

“That wasn’t done the last time,” Robinson said. “Right now, we’re going from one pavement to the other and that’s where you get your pavement failure.”

Robinson said he encourages people to use caution when driving through the area.