Railroad crossing reopens in Macon after safety evaluation, death on train tracks

A Macon railroad intersection reopened Thursday after it was closed for a safety evaluation following a woman’s death on the train tracks.

Cheryl Rawls, 76, died after a train struck her SUV near the intersection on Tucker and Forsyth roads on Nov. 15.

After the crash, Norfolk Southern Railroad company studied if the crossing area needed safety improvements.

Macon-Bibb County took down barricades around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, which were in place since Dec. 18.

While traffic is now permitted to flow between Tucker and Forsyth roads, the railroad company was still investigating if improvements are necessary, according to Chris Floore, chief communications officer for the county.

“That’s not off the table,” Floore said. “But the traffic engineers’ recommendation was to go ahead and just reopen it at this point.”

It was unclear how long the evaluation would take.