MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)-All of the recent flooding has slowed down a lot of operations in South Carolina and people are still working to rebuild and repair. That damage wasn’t just limited to roads and houses, the railroads also took a big hit.
R.J. Corman Railroad company took over the tracks in Horry and Marion counties and had hoped to have the railroads in operation for the first time in four years, by the end of this year. Due to all of the flooding, that opening date has been pushed back to February of 2016 because a lot of infrastructure was washed away in the flood.
The railroad company says its already spent millions of dollars trying to get the tracks up to code. Now, after the flood, they will have to spend millions more on repairs. Although that’ll cost the company more time and money, Bill Henderson, the vice president of marketing and sales says they’re most committed to safety.
“We just want everyone to know that you need to stop, look, and listen at every rail crossing. Secondly, if you have children, railroads are not a playground just like the street is not a playground. You don’t want your kid to play in the street, we don’t want children or adults around the rail line from the standpoint that you have locomotive moving up an down, it’s dangerous.”
Debra Grimes lives in the River Oaks area and says safety should be the company’s number one priority. She said she’s lived in the area for several years and most people completely disregard that there are tracks and a stop sign.
“A lot of times people do not stop for the stop sign. Unless sometimes there is a police car sitting on the side over there and then they’ll stop but there are plenty of times people run that stop sign.”
Henderson said most people are just acting out of habit because they know trains haven’t been through this area in years. Many railroad signs look old and irrelevant so the the city of Conway has put up new signs at railroad crossings to let drivers know that trains will be returning to the area.
Henderson said the railroad company will launch a safety awareness campaign within the next month.
