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6/12/2023
Cleveland's Office of Capital Projects has asked Norfolk Southern Railway, CSX and some regionals and short lines to make nearly 100 critical and noncritical repairs to rail bridges across the city.
Twenty-three of the assessed bridges are in critical condition, while the remaining 76 are in noncritical condition, Ideastream Public Media reported.
The city is calling for repairs to retaining walls, bridge bearings, beams, abutments, wingwalls, columns and more.
The two Class Is, the Newburgh and South Shore Railroad and Conrail are being asked to make repairs. If they don't, the city may pursue legal action, according to Ideastream.
Cleveland officials also asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which oversees rail in the state, and the Federal Railroad Administration to ensure the infrastructure issues are properly addressed. A federal order for encasement of one bridge has been ignored for eight years, said Mark Griffin, the capital project office's law director.
"First and foremost, the responsibility is for the railroads to take care of their own bridges. They are financially responsible for making sure that they're up to code," Griffin said, according to Ideastream. "Secondly, there's a responsibility by state and federal regulators to ensure that they uphold that."