Railroad Work to Close West Point Roads

WEST POINT, Miss. – (WCBI)Motorists in West Point may find they’ll have to find alternate routes through the city in the coming days. West Point Chief Administrative Officer Randy Jones said Kansas City Southern was set to begin a series of projects on various railroad crossings which would reroute traffic throughout the weekend and into next week in some areas of West Point.

Beginning at 7 a.m. Friday, crews will be working to lay new track and temporary filler on the west railroad crossing of Industrial Access Road beginning near Division Street.

“People will have to use Eshman (Avenue) to get to the east side of the tracks or Division (Street) to get to the west side of the tracks,” Jones said. “It should just be a day’s worth of work.”

Jones said Industrial Access would again be closed on Monday, so that crews could return and lay permanent filler along the tracks.

KCS crews are set to return to West Churchill Street at 7 a.m. Saturday to lay permanent filler for a project started in November to replace tracks that had “sunk into the ground” over time. Jones said the new track had been laid, however permanent filler had not yet been placed.

Motorists typically traveling West Churchill will be rerouted to Old White Road, though work is anticipated to wrap up the same day.

The biggest change to West Point travel will take begin Sunday night, however. Jones said KCS crews will begin work at 7 p.m. Sunday evening and conclude at about 2 a.m. Monday on the railroad crossing next to Sherwin Williams on Highway 45, closing the main thoroughfare through town from West Broad Extemded to Mayhew Street. Crews will be laying all new track during the interruption.

“Everything on the north side of the tracks will be accessible,” Jones said. “But to get to the south end of the tracks you’ll have to go around, down to at least Mayhew or Brame (Avenue).”