PITTSBURGH — Faced with strong opposition from Pittsburgh officials and Hazelwood community leaders, CSX Transportation has backed away from its plan to permanently close a railroad crossing at Hazelwood Avenue, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
During a conference call with city officials yesterday, officials for the railroad said they would withdraw a notice filed with the state Public Utility Commission to close the crossing, which has been torn up for repairs since May.
CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan said railroad officials came to understand that the Hazelwood Avenue crossing is a key access route to the 177-acre former LTV Steel site, which is scheduled for redevelopment.
“We learned that they have real plans for that area and how important this crossing is to those plans,” Sullivan said. “It was never our intention to be an inconvenience. We were looking at safety issues.” He said the railroad will get the crossing reopened.
On May 27, the railroad obtained a temporary street closing permit from the city to close the rail crossing for repairs. They tore up the crossing, didn’t fix it, and then on July 10, filed a motion with the Public Utility Commission to permanently close it.
That infuriated Hazelwood residents, especially those who live between Second Avenue and the tracks.
The Hazelwood Initiative, a nonprofit community group that is trying to revitalize the neighborhood, began a petition drive and held a rally earlier this month to voice their opposition to CSX’s plans.
The closing would have created two problems for the community. It would have reduced access to residents who live below the tracks and limited the ways to develop the former LTV site.
Four foundations, working through a newly formed consortium called Almono L.P., are in the early stages of designing a plan to transform the property into mixed use housing, offices, light industrial buildings, parks and marinas. Their architect said that access from Hazelwood Avenue was critical to the success of the project.
Attorneys in the city solicitor’s office also were gearing up to fight the proposal at future PUC hearings. They and city Councilman Bob O’Connor wrote letters objecting to the closing.
Yesterday, O’Connor said he was “elated” that CSX had backed off.
“It is very good for the people of Hazelwood and the future development of Hazelwood,” he said.
Doug Shields, an aide to O’Connor who participated in the call, expressed optimism that it will mark the beginning of “good dialogue” between CSX and the city on other issues involving the railroad.