Residents: Washington Street bridge closure 'an open wound'

Aug. 26—CUMBERLAND, Md. — As a kid in the late 1950s, Ed Mullaney delivered morning newspapers on Washington Street.

His cargo, especially on Thursdays when it was loaded with inserts and advertisements, was so heavy that he struggled to carry it up the steep street.

But the job had perks.

One of Mullaney's customers gave him socks for Christmas, another served him hot chocolate and then there was Mrs. LeFevre — who paid him $1.78 in pennies and conversation as she counted out the change.

His route passed the courthouse, where couples sat in their cars and waited for the building to open so they could get married.

The walk, and early morning air that carried fragrances from a nearby tannery as well as hops being brewed, gave him time to appreciate the neighborhood and street's grand architecture.

With his mixed Labrador retriever Blackie always in tow, and sometimes his dad, Matthew J. Mullaney, along for company, the paper route provided a great experience.

And at the end of his route, the elegant Algonquin Hotel was the perfect spot for a candy bar break.

"I saw this street wake up in the morning. It was magical," Mullaney said as he recalled his childhood and the Queen City's crown jewel. "It was an easy time, and it was a fun time."

Raised with three brothers and numerous other relatives nearby, Mullaney took in the landscape's layered life, which featured steam trains that traveled beneath bridges including the one on Washington Street.

"You'd try to run through the steam," he said and recalled the feeling of coal cinders that brushed against his skin.

Sometimes, trains that carried live pigs could be seen through gaps in wooden planks on the bridge as they traveled on the tracks below.

"Bridges were a big part of our life on the West Side," Mullaney said of structures that gave air to bike rides and led kick-the-can paths to houses where cousins and friends lived.

"Bridges linked us together," he said.

"We had a great place to grow up and I want it to continue for future generations," Mullaney said.

That wish is threatened, however, as the Washington Street bridge, which was already in disrepair before a series of train strikes, has been closed for years with no direction on who has power to restore and reopen it.

Mullaney, who retired as Cumberland's downtown manager in 2013 and currently co-chairs the organization Let's Beautify Cumberland!, lives in the Fayette Street house where he was raised, and owns two properties on Washington Street.

"The loss of the Washington Street bridge is one of the biggest tragedies we've ever experienced in the city of Cumberland," he said. "It's fractured, it's broken ... it breaks my heart."

The bridge closure

Area residents say the bridge closure is not only inconvenient, but jeopardizes safety and eliminates tourism in the stately neighborhood.

They're tired of inaction, and want a plan set in motion to solve the problem.

But that can't happen until some facts are known, including the answer to a fundamental question: Who owns the bridge?

According to a July 2012 Cumberland Times-News report, the city's director of engineering at the time, John DiFonzo, talked of a bump on the eastern side of the bridge where blacktop was beginning to crumble.

The newspaper reported the "bridge is owned by CSX; however, the city assumes the responsibility for protection of the public and is closing the lane."

In September that year, the paper reported city officials rejected a CSX request for the city to take ownership of the bridge and obtain federal funding for its repairs.

Later that month, the Times-News reported DiFonzo said documents that verified CSX's responsibility for the bridge likely went up in smoke during a fire that destroyed City Hall in 1910.

In October that year, CSX reportedly agreed to temporarily repair the bridge.

An April 2015 newspaper article stated the Washington Street bridge "has been reduced to one lane in recent years due to the bridge's inability to bear the weight of two-lane traffic."

Roughly a year later, the paper reported the bridge "will be closed indefinitely based on results from an engineering inspection, according to city officials."

CSX later made some repairs that allowed the bridge to reopen to one-lane traffic.

In August 2017, city officials closed the bridge after it was reportedly struck by a CSX freight train.

The following November, CSX, in a letter to city officials, said the bridge was no longer functional.

At that time, the railroad company blamed the city for allowing vehicles that exceeded the bridge's weight rating to cross and damage the structure.

In June 2018, CSX reportedly rejected a city offer to rebuild the bridge to its existing specifications.

"The Washington Street bridge has a clearance of 18 feet. CSX and federal guidelines call for bridge clearance to be 23 feet high," the Times-News reported at the time.

Soon after, a CSX freight train again slammed into the bridge.

In April 2021, the Allegany County Board of Commissioners authorized its attorney to file a complaint against CSX with the National Surface Transportation Board.

Several residents who live near the Washington Street bridge in March 2023 complained to county commissioners of the lack of progress to replace the structure.

No remedies followed.

Who owns it?

Today, responsibility for the bridge, and power to make decisions on its behalf, are tied to its owner.

And that's where the dilemma begins.

At this point neither the city nor CSX "acknowledges ownership of the bridge," said Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, who retired a few years ago as superintendent of the CSX Cumberland Terminal.

"CSX will not grant permission for the city to rebuild the bridge at the current height over their right of way," he said via email.

It's not feasible to build a bridge that meets Federal Railroad Administration regulations of a 23-foot height, or 21 feet and 9 inches with a waiver, that CSX wants, he said.

"The city is hopeful to bring the issue to the Surface Transportation Board," Morriss said.

The county decided to not go forward with litigation to bring the issue to that board, he said.

"The city has asked the Maryland Department of Transportation to step in and bring the issue to the STB," Morriss said.

Robert Smith is Cumberland's director of engineering and utilities.

"At this time, the city does not own the Washington Street bridge," he said via email.

The city acquired nearby Cumberland and Fayette street bridges via quitclaim deed with CSX, Smith said.

"I cannot say who legally owns the (Washington Street) bridge at this time," he said.

The biggest challenge to replace the bridge is the need to meet the federal height requirement, Smith said.

Due to existing topography, raising the bridge from 18 feet and 10 inches, to 21 feet and 9 inches, and meeting federal standards would require large retaining walls to be constructed in front of people's homes near the bridge, he said.

"There are design exceptions that can be applied for non-controlling criteria, which are items that are typically geometric in nature that can be mitigated with other design elements," Smith said.

"However, there is no guarantee that you will get approval for design exceptions until engineering is done and even then, we'll still need to construct some form of retaining walls," he said.

Nearby, the Cumberland Street bridge is in the final engineering stage and construction could happen in summer 2024, and the Fayette Street bridge project still needs the Maryland Department of Transportation to formally allow engineering to begin, he said.

"My best estimate for the start of construction on the Fayette Street bridge is the summer of 2027," Smith said.

"Federally funded bridge projects take an average of 7 years to complete from design through construction," he said.

The community's fight

Janet Wunderlick is part of a community movement to reopen the bridge.

She recently attended a meeting hosted by The Washington Street Association Save Our Bridge Committee.

The forum, which included all four Cumberland City Council members and County Commission President David Caporale, was held at the Woman's Civic Club on Washington Street in the majestic Magruder House, which Wunderlick said is one of the significant properties being harmed by "the bridge blight."

Buses used to regularly carry tourists to experience the street's significant history, but the bridge closure years ago put an end to that, she said.

"The Civic Club is very cut off by the bridge," Wunderlick said. "The buses can't get around the corner."

She talked of time that's passed since efforts began to reopen the bridge, and roughly 1,000 signatures on a petition that show support for the project.

"Here we are years later ... and there's no word of progress," Wunderlick said and added that a temporary bridge, which could last 45 years, might be the path forward.

The city has invested a significant amount of money in Cumberland, and funds needed for the bridge to reopen would likely pale in comparison, she said.

"It becomes pretty evident that there is no real intent to do this," Wunderlick said of solving the bridge problem.

Cumberland's West Side "is a mess" cluttered with alternative routes, she said.

"It's like an open wound," Wunderlick said. "This has become permanent."

Christopher Stevens is president of the Washington Street Association.

At the recent forum, he talked of the impact the bridge closure has on the area's property values, as well as safety concerns related to access for emergency vehicles.

"It seems to have been forgotten," he said of the need to reopen the bridge to traffic.

Mike Getty is the attorney for Garrett County, and he and his wife own property on Washington Street.

He worked on a project to replace an Oakland bridge that has similar challenges, including site and speed restrictions, to the one on Washington Street.

"That got resolved rather quickly," Getty said.

Hopefully, Cumberland officials will talk to the engineer for the Oakland bridge project, as well as people that are impacted by the multi-year Washington Street bridge closure, he said.

"It's been a long time," Getty said.

The Cumberland Times-News reached out to CSX for comments, which weren't received as of press time Friday.

Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.