A road southeast of Franklin is being closed permanently where it intersects with a rail line at the request of the railroad company, which wants to build an extra section of track.
In exchange for agreeing to close East County Road 150 South, near Greensburg Road and County Road 250 South, the county is being paid $1 million by Louisville and Indiana Railroad.Â
The county is considering using that money, eventually, to design a bypass road in the same area, which would allow quicker access to Interstate 65 using the roads south of Franklin, said Luke Mastin, Johnson County Highway Department director.
The railroad company approached the county with the proposal in June. The railroad wants to build a low-speed section of track, known as a railroad siding, at the crossing on County Road 150 South, county commissioner Kevin Walls said.
Railroad siding is sometimes used as an area where a train can pull off the regular tracks, Walls and Mastin said.
Part of the reason for the closure is public safety related, Mastin said.
More trains are moving through the county at higher speeds, and community leaders have worked to make sure stopped trains aren’t blocking traffic and to improve the safety features at all crossings.
Sidings are typically built to help divert trains that are near larger communities and should help protect residents, Mastin said.
The commissioners approved the closure in exchange for the money earlier this month.Â
"I just think we got a really good deal," Walls said.
The money will likely be put in a road fund once the railroad pays the county, he said. Â
Long term road plans for that portion of the county call for a bypass around the area that would move the road southeast to a bypass. A timeline for that road work has not been set, but the county could use the money to fund part of that project, Walls said.
"I would love to see that money for design of the bypass," he said.
