Surprise Rail Work In Sumner Shuts Down Road

SUMNER, WA - A major rail crossing in Sumner was shut down Monday morning due to surprise construction. City officials said the railroad "tore up all concrete" at the 24th Street East crossing north of the downtown area.

"Union Pacific Railroad was scheduled to do repair work on the crossing with the City of Sumner requiring them to use lane closures and flaggers," read a bulletin from the city about the closure. "When they arrived, the work was apparently more extensive than they anticipated, and they did an emergency closure of the entire crossing. We are very sorry about the surprise nature of this closure and realize it greatly affects businesses along 24th Street, 142nd Avenue as well as traffic on Sumner's other truck route of Traffic/Fryar Avenues."

Drivers should detour around the area using 140th and 136th avenues and Nyberg Road Southeast.

Photo by Don Ryan/Associated Press