Decaturish is reporting this morning that a CSX train operator who hit a MARTA bus stuck on the tracks back in May 2013 has filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million in damages.

The lawsuit argues that the steep grade of the intersection was a known safety hazard, noting that a collision occurred at that intersection 3 months prior to the MARTA bus accident.

CSX, the City of Decatur, MARTA and GDOT are all listed as defendants in the suit, which is posted in full on Decaturish.

City Manager Peggy Merriss told Decaturish, ““The litigation should have no effect on the North McDonough Streetscapes project or the South Candler/South McDonough/Howard railroad crossing project either,”.

Improving that intersection has long been a goal of Decatur’s 2008 Transportation Plan.  The city held a public input meeting on improvements back in 2013, however getting design approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation usually takes years and there haven’t been any public statements about the status of this project lately.

Photo of 2013 incident courtesy of Lee

The City Schools of Decatur sent around this traffic notice from the Decatur Police Department…

 Due to the accident this morning in involving a Marta bus and a CSX train, the intersections of North McDonough Street at West Howard Avenue and South McDonough Street and West College Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic for approximately the next twenty-four hours. The roadway will be closed utilizing barricades and directional signage. During this time, repairs will be made to the railroad tracks. Once the repairs are made, CSX will notify the police department the barricades can be removed. Repairs will also have to be done to one of the crossing arm poles that was knocked over during the accident. It will take approximately 2-3 days to replace the pole, but will not require the intersection to be shut down. CSX will place stop signs at the intersections and the train conductors will be given notice to stop at the intersection before proceeding. They will be required to put out flares before going through the intersection