A project to improve clearances in Pittsburgh has cleared another hurdle.
The railroad received a favorable ruling from a mediator to proceed with work that will allow double-stack intermodal operations through a Pittsburgh neighborhood.
The plan still must be approved by the Pittsburgh City Council.
NS officials said the project will give the railroad two routes for stack trains through Pittsburgh.
Clearance restrictions now mean that all stacked container trains must use a circuitous route along the south side of the Monongahela River.
Much of the work in the project will involve lowering tracks under one bridge and increasing the height of three other bridges. A fifth bridge will be replaced.
Also being replaced will be a pedestrian bridge has that since been removed. NS pledged to donate $1.4 to two civic groups on the city’s North Side.
The project received resistance from neighborhood groups that contended it would create safety and pollution issues. The groups entered mediation with NS in 2019.
Funding for the project is coming, in part, from a $20 million state grant. NS said it hopes work on the project can get underway by 2024.
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