Reactivation of Single Track Railroad Crossing on Radcliffe Street in the Works

A plan to reopen the railroad crossing on Radcliffe Street in Bristol Township is in the works, a representative from Silvi Materials announced at last week’s council meeting,

The plan, said company spokesperson Tim Kurz, is still in its early stages and a traffic study will be conducted before any work takes place.

The crossing, according to officials, was shut down by Conrail-Amtrak approximately 10 years ago. The freight line crossing is now being reinstalled and should be completed by September.

The reactivation of the crossing will reduce truck usage of Radcliffe Street and Silvi will be responsible for maintenance of the tracks, Kurz said.

Township officials expressed concern about the timing of the project with the scheduled Randall Avenue Bridge work expected to launch this Friday

New lights, signage, and gates will be installed as part of public safety measures the company is taking as part of the re-opening project, Kurz said.

In response, Kurz said, the main reason for the traffic study is to get better and more comprehensive understanding of the possible impact Edgely residents would experience once the work begins on the actual Radcliffe St rail crossing. He said results of the study will be provided once completed to council.

In a moment of levity, Kurz said, he asked Conrail-Amtrak officials to install a new Randall Ave bridge quickly too.

Kurz said there is additional “modernization work” taking place at the Silvi owned Riverside Industrial Complex on the 7900 block of Radcliffe St., but he  was coming to the meeting to shed light on the planned work and to answer any questions locals and officials might have.

Project plans have yet to be approved, company officials said Thursday morning, and the images shown to council last week are preliminary in nature.