While the train carrying the effort to open the K & I Bridge to use by citizens has left the station, and before this metaphorical train goes too far down the track, alphabetically speaking, while we're still in the Cs, let's consider another C. The resolution recently passed by the New Albany Common Council suggested that the effort to open the K & I pursue "any and all means" to bring about that opening. To be sure, condemnation is one of the strategies which should be considered. But condemnation has an unsavory connotation which could lead to protracted legal entanglements which would not well serve any of the affected parties, neither New Albany and Louisville nor the railroad currently exercising control of the bridge.
Rifling through the kit bag of remedies to this conundrum another C comes to mind. This C would also require the expenditure of legal energy, possible redefinitions and reinterpretations of property law. But it may offer a less contentious solution which would allow the citizens north and south of the river and the railroad to live amicably as neighbors. Might it be possible to condo the bridge?
Under this alternative, the Norfolk Southern would divide the bridge into ownership units of the eastern automobile deck, the western auto deck and the middle rail bed and tracks. New Albany and Louisville could jointly purchase ownership of the auto decks while the Norfolk Southern would hold ownership of the rail road itself. Just as in a residential condominium a condo association would oversee the maintenance issues surrounding the condo project. Just as in a residential condo the several owners would be responsible for the maintenance on a percentage of occupancy basis. In the case of the bridge, the railroad as the largest unit owner would be responsible for the largest share of the maintenance costs. The condo bylaws would bind the owners of the shared property to certain rules and responsibilities just as those who share ownership in a residential or office condominium.
If this is a possible structure for this project, it might prove to be a quicker path to the goal of re-opening the bridge.
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2 comments:
From my understanding I don't think that obtaining both lanes is an alternative. It is my understanding that Norfolk Southern would require access to one side for maintenance.
The Ohio River Greenway would like to develop the eastern side and already have a path to the bridge designed.
This would also eliminate the need for pedestrians having to cross railroad tracks for access to the bridge.
Conceptually, nothing needs to stand in the way of getting some part of the bridge open. So if that's what makes the Norfolk Southern happy, at least it's a start.
If a shared ownerhip arrangement were possible, just as in shotgun houses three feet apart, even though the auto decks were owned by another party it would be necessary to allow maintenance of the railroad from whichever side makes those particular repairs possible. In that situation, one or the other lane would be temporarily closed as needed.
As far as pedestrians crossing railroad tracks, it happens at nearly every rail crossing I can think of. The bigger problem, of the Norfolk Southern's own cause, is that trains park at the approach to the bridge and block the west auto lane. That practice should stop.
I can see a possibility of someone coming north on the west lane getting "trapped" on the bridge if a train were stopped accidentally or on purpose. That could be avoided by using the west deck for south bound and the east deck for northbound walkers or cyclists, with signs at west entrance to explain why it is so limited.
The auto lanes of the bridge should be open and maintained primarily as a pedestrian or bicycle crossing. But a significant civic value is the bridge's emergency function if other bridges were closed for some reason. With little expenditure of imagination or recall it is a possibility, and it is something we should be prepared for. Such an unlikely emergency function also may broaden support for the re-opening effort beyond simply those who would likely use it as a bike or walk way.
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