June 14th, 2019 by WCBC Radio
At a special meeting this week, the Cumberland Mayor and City Council voted to sign off on a nondisclosure agreement with CSX Transportation paving the way for CSX and the City to begin reviewing the engineering studies on the three West Side bridges. August will mark the two-year anniversary of the Washington Street bridge closure, which occurred on Aug. 20, 2017. It was the first of three dilapidated structures to be closed on the West Side. The Cumberland Street bridge was ordered closed in November 2017 and the Fayette Street bridge was closed after being struck by a train on June 21, 2018. Cumberland City Council member Laurie Marchini- prior to the vote- asked a question that many citizens have raised: why are such actions necessary when CSX refuses to acknowledge ownership of the bridges?…
City solicitor Michael Cohen didn’t directly answer that question- but did note that this particular action is not related in any way to the ownership issue…
The Wilson T. Ballard Co. has apparently completed engineering studies for all three bridges and more information pertaining to the next steps may be presented to the public as early as next week.
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