Kansas City Southern to close San Diego, Benavides crossings for maintenance

Crossing work tied to Kansas City Southern Railroad forced San Diego and Benavides motorists to rethink routine trips through Jim Wells County, where a closed rail crossing can slow school drop-offs, shift delivery trucks and complicate ambulance routes. The maintenance notice, reported June 1, put a familiar South Texas problem back in focus: when one rail crossing closes, the detour can ripple across a whole morning.

TxDOT’s April 2026 Jim Wells County Rural TIP map showed San Diego and Benavides connected by a web of alternate roads, including SH 44, US 281, FM 716, FM 1538, FM 2508 and FM 1352. In a county built around a handful of well-used routes, those roads can absorb traffic when a rail crossing is shut, but they can also stretch travel times for parents trying to get children to school, workers heading to town and local deliveries moving between ranch roads and business addresses.

The disruption matters most when seconds count. CPKC says highway-rail grade crossings are tied to economic development and emergency vehicle access, and that it works with road authorities, private property owners, TxDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation on crossing issues. The company also says crossing safety is a shared responsibility, while the Federal Railroad Administration handles rail safety regulation and inspection. In practice, that means a maintenance closure is not just a railroad project, but a mobility and public-safety issue for anyone who depends on a fast trip across town.

Texas has more than 27,000 grade crossings, and rail advocates say each one is different, with no one-size-fits-all approach to managing closures. That is why advance notice matters so much in Jim Wells County: a short rail maintenance job can still send traffic onto the same few roads, add minutes to a school run and force emergency crews to choose a longer path through San Diego or Benavides.