Railroad grade crossing repairs by Norfolk Southern originally scheduled for last week at the mainline crossing at Tipton are now scheduled for the early part of this week, according to PennDOT engineers early this morning.
Norfolk Southern now says it will close the crossing which carries State Route 4023 (Tipton Road) over the mainline tracks on Monday and Tuesday (September 16 and 17).
The closure will enable railroad workers to perform routine maintenance on the mainline track system. Part of the work requires removal of the highway pavement and roadbed between the tracks at the crossing.
Barry W. Lee, spokesperson for PennDOT, stated, “PennDOT workers are not doing the work. The railroad workers are because of jurisdiction, dictated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.”
“The Railroad is responsible for maintaining grade crossing, they’re the people that have the expertise,” said Lee.
During the closure, traffic from the west side of the tracks will be detoured over SR 4025 through Grazierville and then SR 4027 (Old Route 220) to Tipton. From the east side, traffic will be rerouted the reverse, utilizing Old Route 220 (SR 4027) and SR 4025.
Lee added, “We really didn’t get any notice it was being done this week, but we sent our traffic engineers up there. We haven’t received any word officially from the Railroad, but we did indicate the detour routes for motorists.”
Motorists are advised to allow extra time in their travels and to drive the detour route with caution.
