By Mary Thurwachter
Lantana officials have been talking about possibly closing the Pine Street railroad crossing since November and hosted a standing-room-only workshop on the subject on April 6.
The closing would happen only if the town is successful in winning a Federal Railroad Administration grant, Town Manager Brian Raducci said. The grant would pay 80% of the costs for safety improvements and enhancements along the Florida East Coast Railway’s two-mile corridor in town that runs on the west side of Dixie Highway and now includes five railroad crossings.
“Our railway partners would help us secure a grant,” Raducci said. He invited representatives from the FRA, FEC, Brightline and Tri-Rail to discuss crossing safety improvements, the FRA grant opportunity and what he calls “a corridor approach” to mitigate accident risks at the crossing.
Grant money would enable the town to make infrastructure improvements along the entire railroad corridor that Raducci said might be “challenging without the level of financial support and cooperation from those partners.”
Possible upgrades could include premium fencing on the east and west sides of the railroad tracks, crossing safety upgrades, additional landscaping (including a Third Street streetscape), a pocket park at West Pine Street and reconfiguration of the Ocean Avenue crossing to better handle increased traffic.
The workshop was designed to help gauge community support for the Pine Street crossing proposal — and reaction was mixed.
Some said it was a good idea. Others said the closing would impact the town in a dramatic way that they don’t fully support.
Owners of some of the businesses on Third Street expressed concerns about losing accessibility and visibility from Dixie Highway.
Raducci said he and others from the town had made personal visits to business owners in that area to hear their concerns.
As they had done at a previous workshop on Feb. 27, the railroad spokesmen who are working with town staff outlined what was being considered.
Daniel Fetahovic, public project engineer with FEC, provided historical background on his previous discussions with town staff regarding safety issues at the town’s railroad crossings. He also presented initiatives and conceptual drawings for improvements.
Tom Roadcap, project engineer for Brightline, gave an overview of funding opportunities through the Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program, which focuses on improving safety and mobility.
And Rory Newton, safety inspector with the FRA, discussed safety concerns.
“All of these discussions are in the very preliminary stages,” Raducci emphasized, and “no hard decisions or commitments have been made.”
He said the town would have to consider if it were getting enough money from grants to make up for the inconvenience of closing the Pine Street crossing. He also said a temporary closing would likely be planned to see how traffic flow in the area is affected.
Some residents warned that doing a temporary closure during the summer would not yield the same results as one done during the busier winter season.
Least-used crossing
According to a March 2023 traffic count, the Pine Street crossing is the least used in Lantana.
The crossing is adjacent to a curve in the tracks, Raducci says. “Due to the design of the track to accommodate the curvature, the crossing itself is not as flat as some of our other crossings.”
The town’s five railroad crossings are those on Lantana Road and on Hypoluxo Road, both maintained by Palm Beach County; and those on Ocean Avenue, Pine Street and Central Boulevard, all maintained by Lantana. The town signed an agreement with FEC on March 17, 1976, to assume the cost of the maintenance of the crossings.
Raducci said the maintenance cost for each crossing varies depending on FEC inspections and repair requirements. During the past 10 years, there has been approximately $99,000 worth of town-funded maintenance costs for the Ocean Avenue crossing. The town is planning to spend $214,000 on improvements for Central Boulevard’s crossing this year.
Raducci said it doesn’t appear that the Pine Street crossing has had any town-funded maintenance in the past decade. “The current condition appears to meet FEC’s standards, since they have not scheduled any work on the crossing that we are aware of at this time,” he said.
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