Stalled projects in Hudson underway again

Around the time of the Feb. 3 East Palestine train disaster, Hudson was trying to get four projects underway.

All four involve Norfolk Southern's rail lines to varying degrees. Following the East Palestine disaster, the projects stalled because communication broke down between the city and Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern had some major priorities on their plate at the time, but the period of radio silence dragged on long enough to become "unreasonable," said Hudson City Council President Chris Foster.

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Foster, the city's Ward 2 representative, said the city asked U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, and state Sen. Christina Roegner, R-Hudson, to reach out to the company. "They were both able to engage Norfolk Southern" through its CEO and governmental outreach liaisons, he said, "and we have had weekly calls with Norfolk Southern since."

He praised the efforts of Sykes and Roegner, as well as the city staff's dedication in working to smooth out the details. Most of the outstanding issues have been resolved, Foster said.

In an unexpected twist, council may have uncovered a way forward for the fifth phase of the city's Veterans Trail project designed to increase bicycle and pedestrian traffic in Hudson. Phase 3 wrapped up in April of this year, and was officially opened on May 22.

Foster said that it's hard to guess at the exact timeline for these projects until all the details are finalized, but he provided general timelines for when people can expect them to be underway.

Here's what we know about these projects.

Owen Brown underpass

Near Lennox Road and Owen Brown Street is a Norfolk Southern railroad underpass. As Owen Brown passes beneath the bridge, it narrows, creating a dangerous choke point for cars, cyclists, and pedestrians. Only one car can make it through at a time.

"We're creating an alternating one-way traffic, and we want to put a sidewalk under there to protect pedestrians and bike riders," Foster said.

To begin, Hudson needs permits from Norfolk Southern, and Norfolk Southern needs a bond of liability in case their bridge is damaged during construction. The sticking point was the railway's request for unlimited liability.

"Typically, the liability is two times or three times the project," Foster said. "The city could have appropriated a $1 million or $2 million bond to do this, but no city can appropriate unlimited liability."

The project was scheduled to begin this summer, and, Foster said, it looks like the city will be able to proceed as planned.

Stow Road and Hines Hill quiet zones

There are two Norfolk Southern railroad crossings inside the city — one on Hines Hill Road, and one on Stow Road.

Engineering plans had initially been approved for a quiet zones in both areas, and the project had been bid out to a subcontractor when things hit a wall.

A quiet zone is an area where railroads have been directed to refrain from sounding their horns while approaching railroad crossings, as required by federal regulation. A municipality working to establish a quiet zone is required to alleviate the risk caused by the lack of a horn.

"Norfolk Southern had come back and asked for a slight change in the engineering plans," said Foster, "and the subcontractor made those modifications and submitted it back to Norfolk Southern for approval (around the time of the derailment), and we just never heard anything back."

Now that talks have resumed, Foster said it looks like the city is back on track to have the zones installed this summer.

Multipurpose trail

Norfolk Southern has a stub rail line crossing Barlow Road where Hudson is trying to build a multipurpose path.

Foster said that the city and the railway were in talks about who had the right of way.

"Norfolk Southern was requesting that we make modifications in their right-of-way, which included piping and ditching — and doing a substantial amount of work when the city's not required to do any work," he said.

Because Hudson had established Barlow Road before the stub was built, the right of way, said Foster, belonged to Hudson — a rare occurrence.

This is a long-term project, with construction scheduled to begin this summer.

Veterans Trail

During its interactions with Norfolk Southern over the other four projects, the city stumbled over a possible solution to Phase 5 of the Veterans Trail, a rail-to-trail conversion project.

"South of Terex (Road)," Foster said, "is where Metro (RTA) owns the rail line that goes down toward Akron." For some time the city and Metro have been having conversations about about converting the unused section of rail into a trail. Norfolk Southern owns the portion of the line north into Hudson.

The city began having conversations with Norfolk Southern's strategic planning department and local management about buying or leasing that portion of the line to convert into part of the trail.

Following a May 9 City Council workshop, Foster wrote on his Facebook page that it might take Norfolk Southern from nine to 18 months to complete, but prospects are bright for the company to to sell or lease the portion to Hudson for a Veterans Trail connection — which he called an "awesome" development.

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Development in Hudson stalled after train disaster, have now resumed