Elyria Mayor: Norfolk Southern to repair rail bridge over East Bridge Street

ELYRIA — After years of complaints from city officials and residents, Norfolk Southern Railway has agreed to replace the badly dilapidated railroad bridge over East Bridge Street. Mayor Kevin Brubaker told Elyria City Council on Monday that he had received confirmation from Norfolk Southern that it would undertake a project to replace the bridge, and that the company would meet with him next month to discuss possible repairs to the other six rail bridges it controls in the city. "When (Norfolk Southern) came to me and told me what they were planning to do, I was ecstatic, because those bridges are major entry points into our downtown," Brubaker said. Under the plan shared with Brubaker, he said, Norfolk Southern will replace the entire structure of the 128-foot bridge over East Bridge Street over the next two years. There has been talk within the city for at least 20 years about the poor state of the Norfolk rail bridges that dot Elyria. The metal bridges, to varying extents, appear deteriorated and rusted and have at times dropped debris on passing cars in recent years. Rail bridges are the property of the railroads that control them, so the city has no ability to renovate or replace one itself. In the summer of 2023, City Council passed a resolution calling on Norfolk Southern, CSX and Canadian National Railway to develop plans for badly needed maintenance on their railway bridges and crossings in the city. No major work came of that resolution. Norfolk Southern's railroad has been in particular focus for the ire of residents and officials, though, because it passes directly north of Elyria's downtown. "East Bridge is one of the main routes in the city for getting to the hospital (University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center) from the north side of the city," Brubaker said. "Ambulances are always going underneath that bridge. If anything were to ever happen to the bridge that were to shut it down for a significant amount of time, there would be a reroute that would have to happen." A bridge replacement will force East Bridge Street to close for some amount of time, but repairing it now will allow for planned detours and avoid a possible emergency in the future, Brubaker said. Brubaker, who took office in January 2024, said that the city began to make progress on the effort to bring Norfolk Southern to the table in June of last year, when he met in person with Sens. Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno and Rep. Bob Latta during a trip to Washington D.C. "I don't know which one pulled which string, so I will give credit to all three of them," Brubaker said. The mayor presented each of the city's congressional representatives with a packet outlining the maintenance issues with the city's rail bridges and crossings. Brubaker said that the city's lobbyist and consultant McCaulley and Company continued to follow up with both Norfolk Southern and Elyria's congressmen throughout 2025, and Norfolk Southern held virtual meetings with the city in January and later on March 31 to discuss the issue. In that latest meeting last week, Brubaker said, Norfolk Southern outlined a plan to completely replace the rail bridge over East Bridge Street. Brubaker said the plan would eliminate two of the piers, or supports, which hold the bridge up and relocate the third, allowing more space on the road underneath the bridge. The final step in the multistage plan will be to completely replace the structure of the bridge itself. The work will require varying lane closures and eventually a complete closure of East Bridge Street with a detour. Brubaker said that the entire project would be paid for by Norfolk Southern with the exception of the railing along the sidewalks under the bridge, which the city would provide. Norfolk Southern is expected to go out for bid this summer with a project start date in late 2026 or early 2027. Brubaker said that Norfolk Southern officials warned him it was a multi-million dollar project that could take all of 2027 and perhaps even stretch into 2028. Brubaker said at a City Council meeting on Monday that in the past, Norfolk Southern had been difficult to deal with, but for the past 18 months they had been responsive and committed to the project. "I found out that progress takes time," Brubaker said. "It is not that a new mayor comes in and all of a sudden things start to happen. In some areas they do, but in things like this it takes time collaborating with other elected officials, and I am appreciative of the leadership of Norfolk Southern for taking this on and understanding the needs of the city." Brubaker said that Norfolk Southern officials would also meet with him in Elyria in May to inspect the company's six other rail bridges in the city and discuss additional repair and maintenance options. "They made it known that the Washington Avenue bridge, they are not going to do much with that because it had some work a few years ago," Brubaker said. "But, when you look at Cedar Street, East Avenue, Kerstetter (Way), Lake/West Avenue and Chestnut Street, they are all major entry points into downtown and the aesthetics of them (the bridges) are very ugly." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.