Work to improve some of the railroad crossings in Plymouth may begin in the near future. The city’s been working for months to contact the owners of the city’s railroads to fix some of the rough crossings and address other issues, but little progress had been made until the last few weeks.
City Attorney Sean Surrisi told the Plymouth Board of Works Monday that details on some of the improvements should be revealed soon, “I had a phone call and a couple of e-mails with the folks from Pioneer Railroad last week about the Harrison Street and Jefferson Street crossing, and I’m working with [Plymouth Street] Superintendent [Jim] Marquardt to get some information about some of the work the same folks did out on Oak Road a couple years ago. So those discussions are still underway, trying to pin down when those improvements will take place, but we should have some news soon.”
Surrisi said that the city has also scheduled a meeting with a representative of the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad, which leases the railroad running from east to west through the city, to discuss some potential upgrades, “What improvements could be done with the viaduct there and the potential for quiet zones and railroad crossing concerns, so we’re excited that we’re able to put that meeting together and hopefully it leads somewhere.”
City officials plan to meet with a railroad representative next Wednesday to discuss the improvement options.
