London City Council: Proposed rail closing reviewed

By KAREN DANIELS
Press Staff Writer
Published December 08, 2003 11:37 AM CST

Unless London's First Street railroad crossing is closed, walkers and Rollerbladers using the Rails to Trails path through the city will have to travel across active tracks, through the city of London and back across Maple Street.

However, a city councilman wonders if such a closing would cause additional safety concerns because crews may have more difficulty getting to fires.

The trail is slated to follow the rail bed between Midway and Walnut streets. If the city closes the First Street crossing, on the track which will remain active, the railroad will have a reason to lease the old rail bed for the Rails to Trails path. Crossings are expensive for railroads to maintain.

An ordinance proposing the closing of the First Street grade crossing in London was introduced to city council during a meeting Thursday, Dec. 4.

Dan O'Kelly, speaking on behalf of Rails to Trails during Thursday's meeting, said the only alternative to closing the crossing would force trail users onto city streets and force them to cross two "live" railroad tracks.

"They may turn around and go back and not ever see downtown London," O'Kelly said. "I won't take my grandchildren on First Street on a bicycle."

About 15 children and adults filled city council chambers to offer support for the ordinance.

President Pro-tem John Stahl said aside from the safety issues, the proposal is a business issue as well. He said if walkers and bikers turn around, rather than having to follow a more dangerous path, businesses will not reap the potential benefits.

Councilman Richard Minner, former London City fire chief, expressed other concerns, however. He said if the First Street crossing were closed, firefighter access would be more restricted to locations such as the city's oldest factory -- Church and Dwight, 110 West First St.

"If you close First Street it will shut that off," Minner said. "Tell me how you get there."

Fire Chief Matt Noble had mapped out an answer and said they had carefully weighed all possibilities.

"We took a look at (runs using) all three crossings (during the past) three years," Noble said. Officials found that 37 runs took the fire department over the South Madison Road crossing and that the majority of those were for Church and Dwight. Twenty-six runs went over the Oak Street crossing. He said just a "handful" utilized the First Street crossing.

"We can make it work without a loss of safety per se," Noble said.

Minner wasn't convinced.

"One extra crossing can't hurt you," he said. "It has to be a positive, not a negative. Everything else comes after safety. We need to honor that."

Stahl pointed out that Minner could have attended the joint street and safety committee meeting, but chose not to. Minner said he did not know about the meeting.

"There's always going to be a difference of opinion," Minner said. "I'm appointed and serve under their (the public's) guidance."

London Safety-Service Director Steve Hume said while there are a lot of possible "worst case" scenarios, the fire chief and police chief looked at the overall proposal and felt safety would not be compromised.

Looking at the big picture, he said the city's decision to close the railroad crossing would not just benefit the Friends of Madison County, a local organization working to bring the trail through the area, but would impact the entire Ohio to Erie Trail as well.

He asked that a decision be made as quickly as possible so the project could go out to bid. Money for the trail has to be spent by the end of June.

"The more time you give the group in negotiating, the better off we will all be," Hume said.

Councilman Rich Meade asked whether a public hearing would be held about the ordinance, but Law Director Monte White said he was unsure if it required one.

The trail will be used to promote railroading.

"London was a railroad town from the beginning," O'Kelly said. "We want to keep that position in our community," he said, adding that the group plans for special events at the depot promoting railroads.

"We're becoming a bicycle-friendly community," O'Kelly said. "With a trail available, that will continue to happen." He added that the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure brought 3,000 riders through town. There is an annual ride for multiple sclerosis to Kings Island and a bike tour has become a regular part of the city's Strawberry Festival.

According to the ordinance, the city "is interested in having the bike path follow the rail bed from Midway Street to Walnut Street."

As part of that, Norfolk-Southern would need to accept the closing of the First Street grade crossing.

"The initial indication from Norfolk-Southern... was acceptable to lease," the ordinance stated.

A combined meeting of the street and safety committees met and recommended the First Street intersection out of a few possibilities throughout the city.

The First Street intersection was chosen because it was said to be "least likely to disrupt the safety forces of the city, as well as commercial traffic."

Karen Daniels can be contacted at (740) 852-1616, 1-800-282-3838 or by e-mail at news6@madison-press.com