LIMA — Pieces continue to fall into place for the East Elm Street railroad grade separation project. At Monday’s 7 p.m. Lima City Council meeting at the Lima Municipal Building, the council will vote on approving one more piece.
The council will consider approving a construction and maintenance agreement between the city and the Indiana and Ohio Railway for the project, outlining both contributions from the railway to construction costs as well as maintenance responsibilities for both the railway and the city.
“We’ve been negotiating with the railroad for a couple of months, and we now have the agreement in nearly final form and need council’s authority to sign off on this,” Public Works Director Howard Elstro said.
The agreement would have the railway contribute just more than $297,000 toward construction costs of the $20 million project, with maintenance responsibilities to be split between the city and the railway.
“The city will be responsible for the superstructure, the parapets and drainage elements,” Elstro said. “We are responsible for the road and all elements of the road: the pavement, the surface, the shoulders, the gutters and drainage, and we’re responsible for the bridge structure itself. What we are not responsible for are the rails, ties, the ballast, the sub-ballast and the waterproofing. Essentially, from the top of the bridge up, it will be on the railroad, and from the bridge down, it will be on the city.”
Elstro also said that the Bellefontaine Avenue crossing will also get replaced as part of this project, which is set to begin in the spring and take about 18 months.
Concerning any property appropriations for the project, Elstro said that is still being finalized, but he estimates that a maximum of four to six properties may be appropriated, due either to cost disputes or to “cloudy” titles, with owners or heirs unable to be located.
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