TRUMBULL COUNTY Council considers road vacation to improve city's rail crossings

Grants may be available to pay for the improvements.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A road vacation could pave the way for improvements to several rail crossings in the city, its sponsor says.
City council is considering vacating a portion of Vernon Avenue Northwest between Forest Drive Northwest and Freeman Street Northwest that includes a rail crossing.
The vacation would allow Bloom Industries, a plastics manufacturer that recently located to the city from Champion, to funnel truck traffic headed to access the business from Vernon rather than Freeman.
That's a benefit to residents too, said Councilman Alford L. Novak, D-2nd, legislation sponsor.
"There have been some problems with residents complaining about truck traffic on Freeman Street," he said.
That vacation, which has received first reading by city council, also could enable several other crossings to be improved.
"When a rail crossing is vacated, it may be possible to get grant funds to improve several other rail crossings," said Don French, director of Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. which owns the property.
If the legislation passes, the city could pursue those grant funds from the state through MVEDC.
Safety concern
Whenever you have a crossing between road vehicles and trains, it presents a safety concern, French said. The state looks favorably on eliminating such safety problems, and may be amenable to awarding grants to improve other crossings that may not be as high grade as they'd like, he said.
Ohio Central Railroad operates the line that uses the crossings while the property is owned by a MVEDC subsidiary.
"There's really just been preliminary discussions on it," he said.
Novak listed the crossing at North Park and Hall avenues as one that needs improvement.
"It's very bad," he said. "You basically have to creep over them."
Novak also listed North Park and North Street and Hall and Comstock Street as crossings he'd like to see improved.
"They're all pretty bad," he said.
denise_dick@vindy.com