Powell's long-troubled Seldom Seen Road railroad crossing is open again, this time with a new rubberized surface and fresh tracks underneath it.
The city announced Aug. 11, that it completed a joint project with CSX to replace the railroad tracks and ties, install an upgraded rubberized crossing surface and resurface the roadway. The work cost $303,308, a figure that includes roughly $25,000 for a rectangular rapid flashing beacon pedestrian crossing installed in 2025.
The road had been closed for about five days starting Aug. 3, with detours routing eastbound drivers along Sawmill Parkway to SR 750 and westbound traffic through North Liberty Street and Grace Drive.
Seldom Seen Road marks the second CSX crossing Powell has overhauled in two years. The SR 750 crossing came first, finished in late 2024 at a cost of $267,327. The combined tab: roughly $570,600.
A long wait
The project's backstory stretches back months. At the June 2 city council meeting, City Manager Andrew White told council members the city had already paid for the track improvement and that materials sat on-site, but CSX had not scheduled the work.
Public Services Director Charles Dukes said at that same meeting that CSX lacked the materials for even a temporary patch, so the city supplied them. "CSX also did not have traffic control staff, so he organized for two City employees to help maintain traffic and also provided CSX with a backhoe to use," the council minutes state.
The city's Facebook announcement of the reopening drew 157 reactions and 29 comments, a sign of how closely residents tracked the crossing's condition.
What's next
Powell is already designing an upgrade to the South Liberty Street railroad crossing, with $98,678 committed for design and $750,000 budgeted in the city's 2026 Capital Improvement Plan for construction tentatively planned for 2027. That project will also add a pedestrian safety improvement.
Once South Liberty Street is finished, every at-grade railroad crossing within city limits will have been upgraded.
Liberty Township is separately partnering with CSX on a similar improvement at the Jewett Road intersection crossing, with work expected later in 2026.
