Council acts on closing Parkerson St. crossing

Noting the permanent closing of the BNSF railroad crossing on Parkerson Street was “inevitable” in the words of Mayor Chuck Robichaux, the Rayne City Council Monday night introduced Ordinance #1083 calling for the closure which will be formally adopted at its July meeting.
Because the Council will cooperate in the closure, BNSF will pay the city $25,000.
Under the ordinance, the city will erect barricades and remove roadway approaches, while the railroad company will clear the track approaches and crossing signals. In lieu of installing permanent end-of-road barriers, the ordinance contains a provision under which the city may establish a natural parallel ditch a minimum of 50 feet from the nearest rail in the track.
During a meeting with DOTD officials Friday (See story on Page 6), Mayor Robichaux expressed concerns about the condition of crossing on Arenas and Liama Road. On Monday,he announced he and DOTD engineer Randy Richard inspected the crossing on Arenas, Llama and Polk Streets. The DOTD engineer said he would contact the BNSF Roadmaster James Mcclain regarding needed repairs.
In addition, Mayor Robichaux asked the Council to authorize him to make “some stipulations” in connection with the closing the Parkerson crossing.
Noting he still didn’t believe $25,000 was enough money, the mayor insisted DOTD officials should sign an agreement to “leave Rayne alone” regarding closing any other of crossings.