Six of the seven railroad crossings in DeKalb will temporarily close for repairs in May.

“All crossings except First Street will be closed,” said city manager Mark Biernacki.

Biernacki said DeKalb was told about the closures a couple weeks ago by Union Pacific. They were originally planned for the first two weeks of May.

It’s lucky the upgrades were moved back, so there will be no conflicts with commencement and Mother’s Day, Biernacki said.

“It’s not going to be a convenient time to travel,” Biernacki said. “We ask the community to be patient.”

Biernacki said detours for through and local traffic will be posted in various locations.

James Barnes, director for media information at Union Pacific, said the repairs are routine, similar to road maintenance. He said the main goals of two of the repairs are to provide a right of way for pedestrians and motorists to move through safely, as well keep up the tracks so cars don’t have to wait so long. He said regular maintenance is necessary because of the frequency of traffic and the snow the city receives every year.

On both sides of the tracks the pavement will be lifted up, the tracks will be changed out, and the signals will be checked to make sure they are working properly, after which the street will be repaved, Barnes said. He said they will also add new, longer-lasting concrete ties rather than wooden ones.

Barnes said the money for the repairs comes from the $3.2 billion Union Pacific allots for repairs throughout its system.

While some may be inconvenienced by the repairs, others are making the best of it.

ReNew DeKalb is planning to host some special events during the closures to entice people downtown.

“At this point and time, things are very preliminary, but we are going to highlight the railroad by having an RXR-[railroad crossing]-in-downtown-DeKalb theme,” said Jennifer Groce, executive director of ReNew DeKalb.