Railroad Ave. which runs from South Church Ave. through to West Main St. in Louisville is set to reopen permanently this spring, after more than five years of closure. The street was the location of American Creosote Works, a site which suffered extensive environmental damage and was designated an EPA Superfund Site. Mayor Will Hill stated that both the EPA and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have given the site a clean bill of health.
The street is currently open, but will be closed again for construction of two railroad crossings. Hill said, “Due to the way this winter has been we don’t want to get started and then have a lot of problems and it be held up. It has been awarded and everything is set to go, mid-March. So late April or the first of May we will formally and finally reopen Railroad Ave.”
Hill added that the City of Louisville has already taken over the site maintenance, for industrial development purposes. He said they are moving from calling it the Creosote Site to Louisville Rail Park.
Once the street is open it will be an approved truck route, as well as an industrial park. Hill said, “We already have some activity over there. We are very optimistic. With this reconstruction of the railroad we are doing two tracks. We are real excited about the prospects for Railroad Ave. How many towns have over 100 acres of property, on the railroad, with all of the infrastructure available, owned by the town? And it has a clean bill of health because the EPA and DEQ have signed off on it.”
Hill said the City of Louisville has momentum with such enterprises as Taylor Machine Works, Polo Custom Products and Winston Medical Center, but he sees Louisville Rail Park as being a vitally important part of the city’s industrial future.
Construction of the crossings at Cagle St. and going into the old creosote site will be done to federal-grade specifications. Hill said that a driver will not even notice when he drives over them. Choctaw Rails of Winston County was awarded the construction contract. The design and construction of the project is budgeted at just under $500K.
Hill said that he has been working closely with MDOT on the best way to display signage, alerting truck drivers that Railroad Ave. is a truck route. He sees this as a big benefit, providing a shorter and more direct route from West Main St. to Winston Plywood on South Church Ave., as well as routing these vehicles around downtown.
Hill asked that residents please be patient as the City of Louisville moves forward.
