K&I bridge news

[Stew Winstandley]

The Louisville Metro Council is the next stop in the campaign to open the K&I Bridge for public use.

A resolution urging Norfolk Southern Railroad to allow cyclists and pedestrians on the span connecting the Portland neighborhood and New Albany, Ind., was set to be introduced at Thursday’s council meeting.

The non-binding measure is sponsored by Democrat Tom Owen and Republicans Robin Engel and Jerry Miller. Owen and Engel chair the council’s public works, bridges and transportation committee.

“It’s an attempt to try and get a strong voice of the council on that resolution and call for the public use of that bridge,” Owen said. “That’s what it was intended to be.”

The New Albany City Council has adopted a similar resolution.

A Norfolk Southern spokesman didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment Thursday afternoon. In recent months, however, company officials have cited safety concerns among the reasons they aren’t willing to allow pedestrians on the bridge.

Cyclists, waterfront officials and others argue that a recreational trail along the K&I makes sense given the scheduled completion of the Big Four pedestrian bridge’s Indiana access this year.

The resolution states that opening the bridge to the public will promote economic development, health and the environment, and that the structure has long been meant for public use. It “urges the bridge owners to recognize this community benefit.”

There are more than 100 examples of trails running next to active rail lines, according to research from Rails to Trails, a Washington, D.C-based nonprofit group that creates cycling and walking paths on former rail corridors.

Louisville officials have floated the idea of asking a court to order the bridge re-opened to foot traffic because the span was open to the public for most of the 20th century.

John Gonder, a New Albany city councilman who sponsored his city’s resolution, said it’s clear that the political will is behind the span re-opening, and he predicted Norfolk Southern will ultimately change its position.

“You can stand in the way of that for a while, but eventually something’s going to give on it,” he said. “I think what’s going to give is their reluctance.”

[Pete Pedigo]

I don't see NS changing it's mind.   There would be significant risk and cost involved to make such a use a reality.  Certainly if it were to ever happen NS would require a huge Insurance Policy be provided.  Not only for injury to people using the bridge, but replacement of the bridge, environmental mitigation insurance, and terrorist damage insurance in case of derailement or destruction, loss of use etc.   The latter are all additional costs to liability insurance policy's.  There for even if they change thier mind, the cost of such a changing of the mind will make it a non-starter.   I NS ever abandons the bridge, they might sell it to the goverment and then it might happen.   If the bridge was to be turned over to governmental entities, then INDOT and KDOT or what ever the Kentucky Highway Department is named might fund the project.  But Indiana's part would only be to the low water line point on the bridge.  So Kentucky would bear the brunt of such a scheme.   This is how the cost of the bridge east of I-65 is being split.

Pete

[Stew Winstandley]

Pete

Are the politicians on the councils smart enough to agree with your assessment?  I guess not, since the idea has come up. This seems like a dumb idea to me. I think the bridge was built for the railroads, not for the public.

It does make me wonder, when it is mentioned that the public used to use the bridge (it was US31W when I was young), what kind of an agreement the highway departments had with K&IT.

Yesterday pets were restricted from the Big Four bridge since their owners weren't picking up after them.  The grated floor on the K&I bridge might help that problem.

Stew

[John Butler]

It is the grated floor that I am wondering about.  I don't think I would ever want to ride a bike or walk over that thing!  Of course I am afraid of heights, but even if you weren't, that metal grating would be treacherous if it was wet at all.

[Ron Marquardt]

I drove the K&IT bridge every day for a year and a half back in the early 1960's when I worked the New Albany yard job out of Youngtown.  It was a toll bridge, but those of use who worked for the railroad had a bridge pass.  I still have mine.  They are quite a colectors item.  / Ron

[Stew Winstandley]

Ron,
Your reminder about the tolls answers my question. The bridge should not be considered as public, but it was owned privately and we used it like paying for tickets to see a movie. I don't expect NS to give in to the politicians.
Stew

[Ron Marquardt]

That's correct Stew.  I believe the men who worked the toll booths (both on the north end of the bridge) were K&IT employees.  I believe the operators who manned VI tower also worked for the K&IT.  Rick would know for sure.  / Ron

 

[Rick Dreistadt]

Yes, that's right, they were K&I employees.
Rick

[George Lortz]

Openng the K&IT Bridge to public pedestrian traffic certainly qualifies as a political feel-good project.  It would be interesting to learn what o[not allowed]ective, positive justification exists for doing this other than the current emphasis on personal exercise opportunities like most of the other rail-to-trail projects.

If I were in downtown Louisville doing some shopping, I certailny would not choose walking over the bridge to downtown New Albany as an important thing to do.

If it must be done, then require that the two cities buy the bridge from NS and they can take on all the risks and expenses.

Oops, this sounds somewhat political.  I apologize.

George L.

[Gene Remaly]

OOPS--I remember when the bridge was open to the public as a toll bridge----- seems the only thing changed now is there are more lawyers----

[Stew Winstandley]

Here's the latest unbelievable news about the bridge:

"Louisville vows to take K&I bridge from Railroad if demands are not met


Condemnation may eventually be needed for a public path to open on the K&I Bridge across the Ohio River between the Portland neighborhood and New Albany, Ind., Louisville’s top waterfront official said Thursday.

David Karem, president of the Waterfront Development Corp., spoke Thursday before the Metro Council’s public works, bridges and transportation committee, which approved a resolution urging Norfolk Southern Railroad to allow cyclists and pedestrians on the span.

The non-binding resolution could be voted on by the full council on Monday, said council member Tom Owen, the committee’s co-chairman.

“Continued pressure will help,” Karem said, “But, also, ultimately I think that Metro Government is going to have to condemn that pathway.”

Louisville Metro Council committee member Stuart Benson, a Republican, said placing part of the bridge under city control could eliminate the railroad’s liability concerns. “To me, I think we probably ought to just go ahead and condemn it,” he said. The city is also looking into forcing the railroad to stop using the bridge for train traffic, citing that it would be of better use as a pedestrian walkway. "The railroad can reroute trains across other bridges in the area without any great concern. The low number of trains that cross the river each day can easily be shifted to other routes" Benson said.

Karem said the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office has done research showing that such an action is a possibility. Bill Patteson, spokesman for County Attorney Mike O'Connell, said Karem was referring to a 2008 letter from the office that cited previous court rulings.

However, Patteson said, Norfolk Southern has raised concerns about the implications of the federal Patriot Act on the rail line and that more research is needed. He said several Louisville law firms believe partial condemnation is an option and have volunteered to study the issue.

Norfolk Southern representatives didn’t attend the meeting. But spokesman Robin Chapman said in a telephone interview that the company isn’t wavering from its previous stance that opening the K&I would pose “safety, liability and security concerns.”

New Albany has already passed a similar resolution, and officials on both sides of the river favor opening part of the K&I to walkers and cyclists in an effort to complete a recreational loop that soon will include the Big Four Bridge at Waterfront Park to the east.

Chapman said condemnation wouldn’t resolve the railroad’s issues with safety and security. When asked to respond to Karem’s claims, made at Thursday’s meeting, that there are examples of railroads nationwide that share pedestrian paths, Chapman said: “Every situation is unique. No two bridges and alike. No two situations are the same.”

Owen, a historian and one of four bipartisan sponsors of the measure, said he doesn’t support condemnation unless it’s necessary. He noted that automobiles shared the span with trains until the late 1970s.

“I come from a historical perspective, which is simply: From 1912, clearly that was a dual-purpose bridge. It was going to be wagons and trucks and trains. The ... broader public purpose of the bridge was built in,” he said."

Stew

[Stew Winstandley]

News from the New Albany side:

Ohio River Greenway Project Coordinator Shaunna Graf said the struggle to open the K & I Bridge to pedestrians could end in a lawsuit if Norfolk Southern Corp. doesn’t “play nice.”

Graf presented the New Albany Redevelopment Commission Tuesday with an annual update of the Ohio River Greenway. Along with the drive to secure more funds to complete the path, Graf said opening the K & I Bridge is a major priority, as it would connect New Albany with the Louisville neighborhood of Portland.

“It’s gotten a lot of buzz lately so I’m very happy,” she said of recent media reports from Kentucky and Indiana that have focused on reopening the railroad bridge.

The span has been closed to public transit since 1979, and Norfolk Southern has claimed there are safety and liability risks the company would assume if the bridge were reopened.

The push now is for Norfolk Southern to clearly define those concerns and their reasons for not allowing pedestrian use of the span, and officials such as U.S. Rep. Todd Young are serving as mediators in the process, Graf said.

Though Norfolk Southern is privately-owned, Graf said the matter could ultimately result in a lawsuit if the company doesn’t work with the public to address the issues.

Norfolk Southern last formally rejected a request to open the bridge in 2010. In February, Young met with railroad officials and toured the bridge, though he described his role as more of a facilitator than as a policy maker.

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan has stated his desire to see the bridge reopened. The Louisville Metro Council has also offered a non-binding resolution requesting Norfolk Southern reopen the bridge to pedestrians and bicyclists.

[Stew Winstandley]

More news:

The Louisville Metro Council on Monday approved a resolution urging Norfolk Southern Railroad to allow cyclists and pedestrians on the K&I Bridge, which connects the city’s Portland neighborhood with New Albany, Ind.

New Albany also has passed a similar measure, although a railroad official said last week that there are no plans to open part of the span to the public. Norfolk Southern has repeatedly cited safety, liability and security concerns in its opposition to a plan supported by governments on both sides of the Ohio River. A Louisville councilman has been quoted as saying that if the railroad company does not choose to cooperate, the city will take control of the bridge through the legal system.

Louisville officials have raised the possibility of condemning a portion of the K&I, envisioning it as a multi-use path that would serve as the westernmost section of a recreational loop that soon will include the Big Four Bridge at Waterfront Park to the east.