- Associated Press - Sunday, May 20, 2018

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - A small cross protruding from a rock pile sits beside a well-worn footpath that journeys across a set of nine train tracks in Greenville’s Southernside community.

The cross honors the memory of Ernestine Gina Dixon, a 57-year-old resident who was struck by a passing train near Hampton Avenue as she attempted to cross the tracks.

The section of track has become a common pedestrian crossing spot since a decaying overpass on Hampton Avenue was closed to vehicles in 1994 and then torn down to end pedestrian use in 2012.

The expectation was that residents would walk a mile and a half to get to the other side of the neighborhood instead of the couple hundred feet it previously took using the overpass.

Community outrage ensued, and officials promised the residents a pedestrian bridge. But it hasn’t materialized.

Leaders who have pushed for the bridge since the beginning are pointing to Dixon’s death as the unintended consequence of failing to act on the needs of the neighborhood, a low-income area just west of downtown where residents heavily rely on walking to get around.

“No one wants to walk the mile and a half to get around,” said Mary Duckett, the Southernside Neighborhood Association president. “The shortest route is a straight line. I’ve been telling them that for the last 12 years that someone’s going to get killed on that train track.”

The neighborhood abuts the revitalized Hampton Station - a destination spot that offers a brewery, co-working space, taco shop, coffee shop, Crossfit studio and pet hotel. Southernside is also near a portion of the Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail and bordered by the expanded Pete Hollis gateway that widened the road and blocked off some streets to this neighborhood.

Closest to the train tracks, a small community of modest homes, a local church, a car repair shop and a few apartment homes appear forgotten.

W. Calvin Murray, a local pastor and friend of Ernestine Dixon and her family, said the old bridge provided a viable path for residents to travel and without it, many are unable to get to stores, to church or to see their family and friends.

“It’s unfortunate that communities like this are put on the lower end of the totem pole,” he said.

The desire for a new bridge has been known for years.

In 2013, Duckett and State Rep. Chandra Dillard filed a civil rights complaint, and a federal investigation was launched into DOT’s decision to tear down the bridge.

The complaint was filed on the grounds that the neighborhood was not approached before the decision was made to remove the bridge. It stated that DOT excluded Southernside, “an economically disadvantaged community of color,” from the decision based on race and income level, Duckett told The Greenville News in 2014.

After that investigation, the neighborhood found a way to work with state leaders to make plans for a new pedestrian bridge. The result was a proposed $1.3 million pedestrian bridge funded through federal, state and county dollars.

The desire for a new bridge was seemingly coming together. But promises were made that have not been kept, Duckett said.

Construction was expected to begin in 2016.

Nothing has changed.

No dirt has been moved.

The dead-ends on Hampton Avenue overlooking both sides of the train tracks are a reminder of a failed bridge that has yet to see a replacement, leaving the neighborhood still isolated and bordered by pockets of growth and revitalization near Greenville County’s epicenter.

Paul Guy, a community activist, said he visited the site a week ago after a request from Greenville County Councilwoman Xanthene Norris.

Guy said one snag in the bridge replacement project was that county leaders could not agree whether to push for a vehicular bridge or settle for a pedestrian bridge. Eventually, the pedestrian bridge proposal won out, Guy said.

“Which is fine because most of these people are foot traffic anyway,” Guys said. “They just can’t get everybody on the same page. That’s what’s been causing the delay.”

Dillard said over the years she’s checked in with county leaders every three months.

“It has taken longer than we thought,” Dillard said. “DOT gave them the right of way but because of the grading that they have to do, they needed a little piece of land that they did not have.”

The engineering plans for the new bridge’s design are 90 percent complete, Dillard said. She said since the bridge came down, she has also worried about the dangers of the train tracks.

“That’s always been my greatest fear, that someone would lose their life just trying tot get form point A to point B,” Dillard said. “We don’t have the necessary infrastructure for them to cross.”

Dillard said the plans now lie in the hands of Greenville County.

“The county was part of negotiations way back when, and DOT has given the county their right of way so that puts the project squarely in the county’s bucket,” Dillard said.

Norris said progress is being made.

“It’s clear now that we have the right of way,” Norris said. “Two weeks ago we finally got clearance.”

Paula Gucker, assistant county administrator for public works, said the county is waiting on formal responses from DOT and Norfolk Southern to start construction. She could not give a time frame for when approval would be met but said she hopes the county begins construction this fall.

“There are a lot of different steps. Everything we have to do has to be approved,” she said. “The county has been very productive in keeping up with the project. We’re just in the process of waiting on DOT.”

But DOT spokesman Pete Poore said after the agreement was made for DOT to transfer ownership of the road to the county, agreeing that the county would be responsible for maintaining it, there’s no approval needed to construction projects.

“They don’t need to tell us. They don’t even have to apply for a permit,” Poore said. “We offered to give possession of the road if they would accept the responsibility of maintaining that road and apparently that was done. A lot of county public works people say, ’Oh, we’re waiting on DOT. Well, who in DOT said that?”

Susan Terpay, a spokeswoman for Norfolk Southern, said Friday they expect to sign off on the project agreement next week.

’Her blood paved the way’

Ernestine Dixon had three children and several grandchildren. Family members described her as funny, easygoing and helpful to others.

“She put a smile on everybody’s face. She really did,” said Latisha Dixon, her daughter-in-law.

Two granddaughters visited the site of her death Wednesday, overlooking the area that had been a bridge years ago. Jakiya Dixon, 25, and Auhquirah Moore, 18, spoke of how common it has become to walk across the tracks without the bridge there.

For Ernestine Dixon, a woman who grew up in Greenville, her boyfriend lived across the tracks, said Melissa McCullough, her cousin. Ernestine Dixon crossed frequently to get over there, sometimes crawling underneath some of the stopped trains, her family said.

“I think it’s possible she slipped and fell and couldn’t get up in time,” McCullough said.

The Greenville County Coroner’s Office ruled the case an accident, saying she died of blunt force trauma to her pelvis. Her body was dragged nearly a half-mile away from where she was initially hit, and authorities found her dead at the West Washington Street Amtrak station.

Loved ones have spent time beside tracks this week to reflect on their loss and contemplate how a replacement bridge is still missing from their community. Local activists also gathered there Friday to call on the expedited completion of the bridge.

They said they want the bridge to be named in Ernestine Dixon’s honor once it’s erected.

“Her blood paved the way for this bridge so that others don’t have to experience such a tragic demise,” community activist U.A. Thompson said Friday.

McCullough said family members are in shock and disbelief.

“If the bridge would have been there, she would probably be here today,” McCullough said. “It shouldn’t take a death to get some stuff moving.”

Duckett, the Southernside Neighborhood Association president, said community members have to keep fighting if they want to see a change.

She said she feels that the project has gained new momentum. Completed renderings are expected to be unveiled by late summer or early fall, Duckett said.

“We can’t do anything now but wait,” she said. “We’ve come too far to stop now.”

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Information from: The Greenville News, http://www.greenvillenews.com

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