For the second time in four years, the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad has asked state officials for permission to close three crossings on Madison’s east isthmus — one of which could affect the operation of the proposed central park.

The railroad is looking to close the Livingston, Brearly and Blount street crossings because of concerns over how Madison’s population growth will affect safety at the sites.

“Through the near east isthmus in Downtown Madison, our concerns for public safety are growing as we observe trespassing and vehicle violations at the numerous rail crossings, on a daily basis,” railroad president and CEO William E. Gardner writes in an April 3 letter to Roger Breske, the state Commissioner of Railroads.

Closing the crossings would create two dead ends on either side of the tracks at each crossing.

Breske’s office received the letter six days before a city task force unveiled a revamped design for the long-planned central park, proposed for seven acres roughly bordered by Brearly, Wilson and Baldwin streets and a set of railroad tracks to the northwest.

Bill Barker, chairman of the Central Park Design and Implementation Task Force, said “at one level, closing Brearly would be good for the park” but “if it’s closed to pedestrians, that’s going to be a major negative.”

The latest design for the park now shows a performance area and lawn on Brearly north of the railroad tracks and an urban garden area on Brearly south of the tracks. Closing the street’s crossing would hamper access from one to the other.

A spokesman with the railroad did not return a phone message Friday, but Doug Wood, legal counsel with the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads, said it appears the railroad is asking that all access — by vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians — across its tracks be eliminated.

Alderwoman Marsha Rummel, whose 6th District includes the crossings, said she understands the railroad’s concerns about safety, “but as a city and a neighborhood, we’re also concerned about connectivity.”

“It’s just kind of hard to wall off an area because there’s a railroad,” she said.

A hearing on the petition where the commission will take testimony from the public and other interested parties has not been set yet, Wood said, and would likely not happen for several months.

In 2005, Wisconsin and Southern petitioned the commissioner to close the Brearly Street crossing and two other east Isthmus crossings on Paterson and Ingersoll streets, but later withdrew the request as it worked with the city to try to establish quiet zones at crossings, Wood said. Quiet zones are areas where trains typically don’t blow their whistles.

Meanwhile, Barker said the city plans to ask the OCR this spring for permission for a new pedestrian crossing over the tracks on Few Street that would serve as the main entrance to the proposed park.