FAYETTEVILLE — A portion of Dickson Street will close this weekend as the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad begins the first phase of work on the railroad crossing there.
The project’s first phase includes new crossing panels and rails, making the crossing smoother for vehicular traffic.
Later this summer — likely in late June — A&M Railroad representatives will install gates that lower when a train passes through.
Work is set to begin at 7 a.m. Saturday and end by 9 p.m. Sunday, according to a city news release.
Cars will be rerouted along West and Gregg avenues to Lafayette Street. Pedestrians and bicyclists are encouraged to use a footpath between George’s Majestic Lounge and Powerhouse Seafood & Grill to cross the railroad tracks.
Businesses will still be accessible by sidewalk. The Dickson Street entrances to the Depot and Walton Arts Center parking lots will be closed. Drivers will have to use entrances on West Avenue.
The Frisco Trail crossing, immediately east of the railroad crossing, will remain open, but Chief Ron Sparks, with the railroad police, encouraged trail users to use extreme caution, because heavy equipment will be operating in the area.
Matt Mihalevich, Fayetteville trails coordinator, said the Frisco Trail crossing will move about 10 feet — away from the railroad tracks — during the second phase of the project.
“They need enough space to put in a signal pole and gates that will come down between the trail and the tracks,” Mihalevich explained.
The City Council late last year agreed to pay $250,000 for the $561,000 project. Rerouting the Dickson Street trail crossing will come at the city’s expense.
The Federal Railroad Administration rates the Dickson Street crossing as the most likely, among 18 railroad crossings in Fayetteville, to feature a train-vehicle collision.
There have been three collisions involving trains and vehicles on Dickson Street since 1999. The most recent crash, in September 2012, involved a 29-year-old woman. Police said the woman told them she didn’t hear a train coming before it broadsided her Nissan Xterra. She suffered minor injuries. A metal fence along the Frisco Trail was also damaged.
The crossing already features flashing lights and ringing bells when trains approach. Those warning devices will be replaced when the new gates go in.
An average of four trains pass through the Dickson Street railroad crossing each day, according to Federal Railroad Administration data. Trains are limited to a maximum speed of 10 mph on Dickson Street. In most other areas of town, they can travel up to 25 mph.
Nearly 13,000 vehicles cross the railroad tracks each day, making the Dickson Street crossing the most trafficked in Fayetteville.