From Mitch Thams
County PIO
On Thursday January the 4th 2024, the City of Bay City was notified by light barricade a contractor for BNSF Railroad that the rail crossing on State Hwy 35 between Ave H and Ave K (the crossing closest to McDonalds) is scheduled to be completely replaced to ensure the safety of the traveling public.
The city leadership called a planning meeting for the next day, to discuss the situation.
Coordination is needed because the railroad company needs 3 days to make the permanent repairs.
Our team has representation from all law enforcement agencies, our city and county leadership teams, and industrial partners to reduce the impact of this closure.
Here is what we know so far:
The dates for the road closure will be announced far in advance of the closure and we will have signage on Texas 35 for at least seven days to make sure the public is aware of the situation.
“We understand the hardship this 3-day closure will cause our community” said Bay City Police Chief Christella Rodriguez.
The replacement will impact the local traffic, heavy haul trucks and the traveling public.
The local traffic can detour to 6th street or 8th street to avoid the construction, but the city bridges are not load rated for the larger trucks.
We will communicate the closure to all industrial partners and local businesses that receive products by heavy trucks around the rail crossing.
We will place route information in the area gas stations and truck stops to communicate the closure, this will result in the trucks having the option of re-routing around the detour.
“We are working on a plan to re-route the truck traffic around town and communicate with our local industry so they can re-route their trucks to avoid the closure,” said Amanda Campos, Emergency Management Director for Matagorda County.
“Our plan calls for constant communication between the trucking industry and the City of Bay City,” Campos added.
The community will benefit with the rail crossing being replaced; the time has come for serious action to prevent damage to vehicles.
“The traffic counts have increased through town, which causes wear and tear on the roads and the rail crossings,”, said Bay City Mayor Robert Nelson.
“The team believes this is the right time to take these actions, because the traffic counts will continue to increase, the time is now to replace this crossing,” Nelson added.
He continued, “Using this team approach will make a difficult situation a little better.
“Years ago, I reached out to BNSF Railroad concerning the condition of that crossing. It was in bad shape and deteriorating quickly. BNSF has tried many times to patch the crossing to avoid a 3-day closure. But the repairs have not worked the way they were intended.”
We ask the driving public to be patience during these traffic delays, communicate with your friends and neighbors the closure and soon we will have a rail crossing that will benefit everyone.