IT’S A ONE-WAY

Navasota’s historic Railroad Street officially opened to traffic from Holland Street to Washington Avenue Friday, Sept. 24, following a lengthy closure due to a massive infrastructure project to eliminate flooding in historic downtown. Railroad Street is now a one-way street northbound.

In Feb. 2020, Phase 1 of the approximately $2 million Railroad Street Drainage Project began. In addition to replacing 26-inch drainage pipes with 7-foot box culverts, new sidewalks were installed, utility lines were buried, and parking was reconfigured. The most notable change is that Railroad Street is now a oneway street northbound.

The sidewalk on the east side was extended six-feet, allowing for a cut-out for passenger drop-off at the P.A. Smith Hotel and eliminating storefront parking. Pavers, streetlamps and planter boxes complete the new look. Diagonal parking and a few parallel parking spots were added to the west-side of the street.

Railroad Street from Johnson Street to Holland Street remains closed while construction is being completed. Navasota City Manager Brad Stafford said the contractor has to add a junction box for the storm sewer at Johnson Street, but is unsure how long that will take to complete.

Stafford said he would still like to have an official ribbon cutting to commemorate the re-opening of Railroad Street, however that will be put-off until the project is 100% complete.

“I am glad this project is almost complete,” explained Stafford. “The piece that everyone forgets about is that the drainage underneath the street is the most important part. That will really help drain a lot of this storm water from downtown and away from some of the residential neighborhoods that are to the south of City Hall.”

Signage on Railroad Street is temporary and permanent signage will be installed later. Remember to use caution when driving on Railroad Street as traffic adjusts to the transition of a one-way road.