A recent round of railroad maintenance within Lexington County is now complete, with CSX having completed the Lexington County portion of work at various crossings along one of its local lines that also included portions of Newberry and Richland County.

The work began Feb. 5 and is expected to conclude on the Newberry end of things in early March.

Although the work shutdown several key Lexington County thoroughfares for multiple days – St. Andrews Road in Columbia, Lake Murray Boulevard in Irmo, Lexington Avenue in Chapin – the county, which helped boost awareness of the work after CSX announced it in early January, said it didn’t receive any complaints and faced no challenges for its part.

“CSX notified public officials by email about the upcoming temporary closures,” the county’s public works department said when asked about communication with the other agencies involved. “The email was sent in January regarding the work to take place in February and March. Updates have been sent from CSX as needed.”

The Town of Irmo faced a few major closures in its vicinity, with Lake Murray Boulevard and St. Andrews Road joined by a crossing blocking the Irmo High School bus lot, among others.

Danielle McNaughton, who handles communications and special projects for the town, told the Chronicle that they found that the closures went faster than expected, adding that they were told repairs would take three to five days when most only took two to three.

“The railroad closures for the Town of Irmo were a group effort,” McNaughton said. “We relied on closure information provided to us by Angela Nelis, Chief Operations Officer, from Southern Commercial Development.”

McNaughton told the Chronicle that the town sent out information regarding the closures through Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. These updates included information recommending detours and a real-time closure schedule.

“We found the public opinion to be more positive than negative,” she offered. “We received phone calls leading up to the railroad closures and provided the information needed to inform the public in a timely manner.”

McNaughton said that the town is thankful for the “much-needed” repairs.

Though the town says the work ultimately went smoothly, that didn’t stop its Police Department from having fun with the anxiety surrounding the potential disruptions, sharing humorous posts that included a “Game of Thrones” meme and a photo of Chief Bobby Dale brandishing a Men in Black Neuralizer to wipe one of his officer’s memory after the crossing at Lake Murray Boulevard reopened.

The Chapin Police Department was the entity to inform that town’s residents on the closures and how to navigate them.

Thomas Griffin, Chapin’s Chief of Police, said in a release that motorists and residents were advised to plan their routes accordingly and that the detour routes were in place to minimize disruption.

Within the release the department also urged residents and commuters to exercise caution, follow the detour signs and obey instruction from law enforcement.

“Safety remains our top priority and we appreciate the community's cooperation and understanding during this temporary inconvenience,” Griffin said in a release. “WIth thousands of people commuting to work and school during this period, we advise all drivers to navigate the area with extreme caution.”

The Chronicle didn’t receive an immediate response from Griffin or the town regarding how the construction went.

Towns weren't the only entities to be affected. Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, which straddles the Lexington/Richland county line, saw its main entrance closed for three days, according to Matt Perron, public relations manager for the zoo.

The main entrance closure led to both staff and visitors having to park in the overflow lot and cross a pedestrian bridge over the tracks, which added some extra walking time. Perron said that the zoo got lucky, and the work was done before the zoo’s “Free Friday” promotion came around.

Southern Commercial Development – which maintains detour signage and traffic control aspects for CSX Transportation, which were at the heart of the railroad repairs – declined a request for comment about how the process went in Lexington County.