City Meets With State, Railroad on Pond St. Bridge

The city of Toccoa is working with state and railroad officials to get the Pond Street bridge re-open to traffic as soon as possible.

That is according to Toccoa City Manager Billy Morse.

Morse said that he and Public Works Director Randy Smith met with representatives of both the Georgia Department of Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railroad Thursday about the bridge, which was shut down at the request of the DOT last week.

He said it was a good meeting.

“The railroad understands that it is their responsibility to repair the bridge,” said Morse. “DOT, who inspected the bridge and found the problem, has pointed out exactly what needs to be done to correct the problem. Now, it is just a matter of getting Norfolk Southern to schedule the work.”

However, Morse said that there is not a timeline right now for the railroad to conduct the repairs.

“They are extremely busy, according to them, but this is a relatively small job and hopefully, (they) will be able to fit that in their schedule sooner rather than later (and) we will be able to get the bridge back open to the public,” said Morse.

The city closed the Pond Street bridge, which connects Currahee Street to Doyle Street and the center of downtown Toccoa by spanning the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, last Friday upon the DOT’s request.

According to DOT bridge inspectors, one of the wooden supports that is holding up the bridge needs to be replaced.

Morse said that the bridge will not re-open until that support is completely fixed.

He did say that in repairing the bridge, the railroad will also make a major improvement to the bridge.

“The bridge today is rated at three tons, and when it is re-opened, it will have a five-ton rating,” said Morse, adding it was a DOT request. “It is a good thing because that means it will be able to handle heavier traffic loads.”

Morse went on to say that the city realizes that having the bridge closed is an inconvenience to drivers and adds that having the repairs done are a priority for the city.

“Obviously, it is a major access point to downtown from the state highway and a lot of people are concerned it and that is why we are working as quickly as we can to get it back open,” said Morse. “There are a lot of businesses downtown that rely on the highway.”

Motorists accessing the Doyle Street area from Currahee Street can also cross the tracks at Sage Street or by going under the tracks on Broad Street.

The Pond Street bridge is the third bridge over the railroad closed by the Georgia DOT due to safety issues.

First, the DOT closed the Park Street bridge and the city reached an agreement to have Norfolk Southern remove that bridge, which happened earlier this year.

Then a few weeks ago, the DOT notified the county to close the Stonewall Court bridge that spans the tracks. Stonewall Court is located near the Toccoa-Stephens County Airport.