The North Eastabuchie railroad crossing no longer exists.

The Mississippi Highway Commission voted 3-0 Tuesday morning at a regularly scheduled meeting to close the crossing, the site of three train-vehicle accidents in the past two months. Three people died in those accidents.

Two accidents occurred at the same crossing Monday within seven hours of each other. The condition of the woman involved in the Monday morning accident has been upgraded from critical to stable at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg. An Eastabuchie man involved in the Monday afternoon accident was fatally injured.

Sheriff Alex Hodge ordered the deadly crossing closed Monday at 5 p.m. Officials with Jones County and the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Southern District concurred with the sheriff’s decision, and MDOT personnel made a recommendation to the Mississippi Highway Commission that the crossing be permanently closed.

The Commission met Tuesday morning and voted to close the crossing. Backhoes on the scene south of Moselle began breaking up the roadway as soon as they were informed of the Commission’s action.

“Our initial intention was to go to (the Commission) with a closure order in April, but due to circumstances and based on a request from the Commission, we decided to go ahead and go before the Commission this morning,” said Robby Burt, deputy director of MDOT’s Freight Rail, Ports and Waterways Division.

The meeting began at 10 a.m. and word was received before 10:30 a.m. about the vote. At that time, MDOT crews began breaking up the asphalt leading up to the crossing between the Norfolk Southern Railroad and Highway 11.

Jones County Beat Four crews were busy Tuesday making the southern crossing — about 900 yards away in Forrest County — accessible to 18-wheelers which normally cross at North Eastabuchie.

Officials identified the victim of the Monday afternoon accident as Albert Payton, 63, of Eastabuchie, a retired chemistry professor. Officials said Payton lived approximately 200 yards from the crossing.

Hodge identified the woman involved in the first collision as Susan Camron, 51, of Seminary. Both she and Payton were ejected from their vehicles.

About two dozen Moselle and Eastabuchie residents expressed their opposition to closing the crossing in a meeting with MDOT officials earlier this month.