NS Gets Approval of Pittsburgh Clearance Project

The Pittsburgh City Council has signed off on a plan by Norfolk Southern to increase clearances through the city to accommodate double-stacked container trains on its Pittsburgh Line.

The council approved a plan set forth in December 2019 by a mediator to raise bridges in some locations and lower the tracks in others.

The three bridges to be raised are on West North Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, and South Negley Avenue. They will be raised by 30, 33, and 17 inches respectively.

Tracks will be lowered by 18 inches beneath the Columbus Avenue bridge. A new bridge will replace the existing Merchant Street structure.

NS also agreed to build a pedestrian bridge at North Avenue and Brighton Road.

Funding for the work is being provided in part through a $20 million federal grant.

NS Moving on With Pittsburgh Clearance Project

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.