MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — We all use Central Georgia's roads to get around, but sometimes there are things that drive us crazy. Whether it's a stubborn pothole or an intersection that needs a traffic light, we're listening to your road problems and getting answers from local and state officials in our series "Driving Me Crazy."
If you're heading into Forsyth on East Johnston Street, you may want to drive with caution. Ann Haines says hit one of those potholes, and you'll be sorry.
"As you go towards the town square, you'll see that there are large chuckholes, about five of them, and one is probably about eight inches deep," Haines said.
She takes this road about three to four times a day, but says it's a problem around all the train tracks in the city.
"The railroad crossings in Monroe County are driving me crazy!" Haines said.
Norfolk Southern made some repairs to the tracks last year. Haines says that's around the time she started noticing the broken pavement.
"Every time I've tried to call someone, whether it's Norfolk Southern or the state government or the local government, I have not been able to get a response from them positively saying we will do something," she said.
The Forsyth mayor says he understands Haines' worries.
"It's a very rough crossing as you can tell, and I personally cross it several times a day, so I know it from first-hand experience, and I hear about it all the time," Mayor Eric Wilson said.
He's doing what he can on the city's part to have it fixed.
"The most prominent potholes, those will be worked on the first of next week, so Monday," Wilson said.
Repaving the area to an even level is a bit more complicated.
"We will resurface our part of the street, but we can't actively work in the railroad's right of way, so that right of way has got to be defined by the railroad to us, so GDOT has a plan," he said.
A consent order between the City of Forsyth, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Norfolk Southern says GDOT will lead a resurfacing project and add more warning signals to the crossing.
"We're ready to work with GDOT and the railroad to make that fix come to fruition as soon as possible," Wilson said.
Wilson says crews will be working to fill the potholes on Monday, but as far as repaving the road goes, the consent order gives GDOT two and half years to complete it.
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