Latrobe agrees to cover $34K in railway costs for Ligonier Street underpass upgrade

Latrobe Council agreed to pay about $34,000 to meet Norfolk Southern cost requirements and move forward with stalled improvements to a railway underpass on Ligonier Street.

Council on Monday unanimously approved a preliminary and construction engineering services agreement with Norfolk Southern, but member Jim Kelley said his vote was “most reluctant.” Other city officials also weren’t happy with the terms of the agreement.

City Manager Michael Gray and Solicitor John Greiner recommended approval of the agreement to get the project completed and to avoid the alternative — potentially costly litigation.

Gray noted pedestrian traffic beneath the underpass has been restricted since last fall, when a city-approved contractor began excavating one of the sidewalks but halted when a dispute between the city and Norfolk Southern surfaced.

The project, supported in part by a $70,000 PennDOT multimodal transportation grant, is meant to upgrade lighting to new LED fixtures, replace deteriorating concrete salt barriers at the base of the underpass’ steel support columns and replace cracked sidewalks, including installation of new handicapped-accessible curb ramps.

Latrobe already planned to spend about $41,000 of city funds for the project before agreeing this week to pay about $34,000 for railway security personnel to be posted during construction and for a Norfolk Southern review of project engineering originally completed by city consultant Gibson-Thomas Engineering.

Councilman Ralph Jenko said the city faced being sued by Norfolk Southern if it does any more work on the underpass without railway approval of the engineering.

“We are in a situation where we have no choice,” Jenko said. “We are prohibited from doing anything, and we now have a sidewalk that is in disrepair.”

“I really feel like we’re being held hostage,” Mayor Rosie Wolford said of the extra costs.

According to Greiner, before the city applied for PennDOT funding, it received an email from a Norfolk Southern official indicating the railway would not need to review project engineering. But, he said, Norfolk Southern later indicated that email was unauthorized and it would need to review engineering after all.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Jeff DeGraff said Tuesday that “the initial scope of work was misrepresented to us, and we didn’t feel a review was required. However, as the work began, we learned the project would be more extensive. We stopped access until we can complete the review process.

“We have informed the city of the steps necessary to move forward and are awaiting their response.”

City officials say they have been attempting to come to terms with the railway, reaching out to Sen. Bob Casey’s office as an intermediary. Greiner said he and Gray received no response when they attempted to set up a conversation among the parties last week.

“We have been, and will continue to be, in communication with the city until the project is completed,” DeGraff said. “Our focus is to ensure that safety and structural integrity are maintained. When necessary, we require the review of proposed plans before we grant access.”

City officials argued that Norfolk Southern, as well as city pedestrians and motorists, will stand to benefit from the underpass upgrade.

“They’re not being a very good neighbor,” Wolford said of the railway.

Latrobe initially applied for PennDOT funding toward improvement of parallel railway underpasses on Depot and Alexandria streets as well. But sufficient funding was approved only to pursue an upgrade of the Ligonier Street underpass.