Sheffield looking at possible railroad overpass

Though there are many benefits to living in The Shoals, one of the biggest cons is near universal — dealing with the multitude of railroad crossings in Muscle Shoals and Sheffield.

While Muscle Shoals has an alternate route to circumvent train crossings if need be, the crossings in downtown Sheffield are potentially more disruptive of traffic trying to reach one side of the city from another.

As such, a study has been in the works for years now on the feasibility of building an overpass at a number of locations in Sheffield to help alleviate the traffic stoppages caused by train crossings.

According to Colbert County Commissioner Tommy Barnes, a study was done in 2020, and subsequent revisions have been made after public meetings held to get input from citizens.

Sheffield Mayor Steve Stanley said engineering construction company Volkert has been drawing up the proposed plans for overpass locations.

The Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments held a public meeting Aug. 8 to collect even more public feedback about the project.

NACOLG previously received a $2 million grant to be able to put together the study.

Stanley said previous meetings by the Shoals Metropolitan Planning Organization have led project members to include five specific sites for a possible overpass, with the crossing at Montgomery Avenue the possible favorite.

However, he said he is concerned about the impact any potential overpass will have on motorists’ ability to reach downtown businesses, so the suggestion has been made that Volkert and NACOLG might look for a location farther west to build an overpass.

“We have decided to keep working with Volkert in the future on the overpass project, and we had a long conversation with them while they were here for the meeting about current concerns we have. That might result in the location of the overpass being adjusted.”

One of the concerns Stanley mentioned was the new Dollar General store that recently opened in Sheffield.

Because it did not exist at the time the previous plans were made, one or more of the potential overpass locations would go right through the area.

Stanley also said he prefers to leave the crossing at Montgomery Avenue open, but Norfolk Southern Railway has told him if an overpass is built there, they will consider the crossing as part of their rail yard in Sheffield and will block the area more often, if not at all times.

Since no site location has been finalized and new concerns have been brought up, Stanley said Volkert will evaluate the overpass plan and get back with the city.

Once a site is selected and the engineering plans are complete, NACOLG intends to seek funding for construction, according to a social media post.

Since no site has been confirmed so far, there is no current timetable for completion of the project.

Stanley said one major benefit of an overpass would be allowing traffic to move unimpeded from one side of the city to another.

He used the example of hospital employees, concerned with limited break times each day, being able to make it to restaurants downtown in time.

He also said he would like to have traffic be able to move freely to areas like the shopping center.

“An overpass would be a benefit to those businesses,” he said.

For the full Volkert Railroad Overpass Feasibility Study, visit https://static1.squarespace.com/…/Shoals+Area+Railroad.