A proposal May 6 by CSX Railroad to Tyrone to close the Valleywood Road crossing at Senoia Road and extend Park Drive so residents can connect to East Crestwood as an alternative will be met with a counter proposal in the next two weeks.

The issue of closing the Valleywood crossing came in 2007 and was initiated by the town after a double fatality at that location in 2001. The town in 2007 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CSX and Georgia Dept. of Transportation (DOT) to close the Valleywood and East Crestwood crossing and construct a new signalized crossing at West Crestwood to facilitate a higher degree of safety.

Now two years later, the project is being proposed to close Valleywood and put new signals at Crestwood using money supplied to CSX from federal stimulus funds, Mayor Don Rehwaldt said Friday. Federal funds would pay for approximately 85 percent of the cost of closing the Valleywood crossing, extending Park Drive to connect to Crestwood and installing new signals at Crestwood and Senoia Road. Tyrone would be responsible for making up the 15 percent balance of the project cost, Rehwaldt said.

The total cost of the project was estimated at $600,000-$1,500,000, Rehwaldt said. State DOT would make no financial contribution to the project, he said. Depending on the exact cost, Tyrone’s contribution to the project could be as high as $225,000, said Rehwaldt, in a time when annual budgets are already being reduced in response to decreasing revenues.

Rehwaldt said CSX at the meeting was represented by Tom Drake, who told the council that, along with enhanced safety, the town would benefit from having a “quiet zone” free of train horns blaring through the downtown area.

Citing financial considerations, the town will make a counter proposal to CSX in the next two weeks, Rehwaldt said.