Seventh Avenue East Railroad Crossing

July 19, 2004

There are a LOT of us who regularly travel up and down Seventh Avenue East. We use it to get to and from Lowes, Ryans, the movie theaters, all the businesses on Duncan Hill.and many of us use it as a short-cut to avoid heavy traffic on Four Seasons Boulevard and as a quicker, easier connection between the east and west ends of town. When we DO this though, we're in for a rough and bumpy ride.across the railroad tracks on Seventh Avenue.and we fear for the damage we're doing to our cars every inch of the way.

Folks who cross the tracks on the SOUTH end of town, however.at the intersection of South Main and South Church.cross in relative LUXURY. A while back, the Department of Transportation AND the railroad fixed the crossing. DOT paid for the material, and the railroad provided the labor.contracted with special crews, in fact.and they got the job done in just days, causing virtually no inconvenience, leaving the motoring public with a pleasant surprise and an incredibly smooth crossing. DOT engineers tell us the secret is in concrete panels that were used.

So, why can't this be done at the Seventh Avenue East crossing? Maybe it can.but it will be expensive.and there are a lot of hoops to go through on the southside, there is ONE set of tracks. On Seventh Avenue.there are SEVERAL.and they were probably all put in at different times, which means they are all at different elevations. This means EVERYTHING would have to come up and be replaced..keeping it all, of course, level and uniform. One VERY unofficial guess is.this could cost between 750,000.and a million dollars.

We asked the engineers.is there ANYTHING affordable that can be done to at least IMPROVE the crossing? Probably not, they say.without replacing the crossing, as was done on the south-side.

But if the Seventh Avenue crossing is EVER going to be any better-we've GOT to start somewhere. Hendersonville City Manager Chris Carter understands the problem and has indicated he'll talk to DOT.who, in turn, we hope will talk with the railroad. DOT has liaison people, as we understand it, who work with the railroad on such problems, who get things started, and who get the work done.

Since the railroad figures into this in such a major way-the tracks, after all are theirs and so is the right of way.a lot depends on THEM.

But it's our hope that Hendersonville city officials and those with DOT..will APPEAL to the railroad to do its part in replacing the crossing AND there will be a realistic and equitable way to pay for it. We KNOW it will be expensive. But we also know that with all the additional traffic..from all the growing commerce on THIS end of town..the crossing is getting worse.and for those of us who use it, it's a nightmare for our vehicles.

The crossing on the southside was a piece of cake.and it's like riding on a cloud. Let's get the ball rolling.the sooner we see..and FEEL..a crossing like that one here on Seventh Avenue the better.