The drive to and from Selma should be much smoother after the railroad crossing at the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 East and Roosevelt Avenue was resurfaced Wednesday.

According to Meridian and Bigbee Railroad General Manager Blake Loper, the work on the crossing was done after they received a multitude of complaints about how rough the railroad crossing was.

“It was strictly to resurface the crossing because we’ve gotten complaints in the community that the crossing had gotten too rough,” Loper said. “We wanted to help the community have a more pleasant trip across the railroad tracks there.”

The crossing was closed at 6 a.m. Wednesday morning to allow workers with the Meridian and Bigbee Railroad to resurface the tracks.

“We closed it down at 6 a.m. [Wednesday] morning,” Loper said. “The work is complete, and we’ve got to have time for the asphalt to dry. It’ll be back open at 6 a.m. [Thursday] morning.”

Loper said there wasn’t a problem with the tracks at the crossing, but the railroad company wanted to give people a smoother crossing to go over.

“It was a timber crossing with wood planks,” Loper said.

“Some of the timbers were in need of replacement, and we went back and cleaned it up.”

Loper said he hopes the work will fix the problem with the road to ensure people have a less bumpy ride on U.S. Highway 80.