SCHUMER: AFTER CSX-OWNED BRIDGE IN MONROE COUNTY WAS FORCED TO CLOSE INDEFINITELY DUE TO DANGEROUS STRUCTURAL DEFICIENCIES FROM RAILROAD FAILING TO MAINTAIN IT, SCHUMER DEMANDS CSX ACT NOW TO RESTORE THIS VITAL ROADWAY FOR OGDEN & ROCHESTER COMMUNITY
Last Year, NYDOT Identified Potential Structural Failures Of Gillett Road Bridge, But Because CSX Took No Action, Bridge Was Forced To Close, Cutting off Motorists and Disrupting Residents’ Commutes and Traffic Patterns For Monroe County Residents – Now CSX Claims it Abandoned Bridge Ownership Decades Ago, Despite Records Showing CSX Made Bridge Repairs As Recently as 2009.
Schumer Says Although CSX Has Had Months To Make Repairs, They Instead Stood Idle Putting Community At Risk, And It Is Unacceptable They Would Put The Burden On Local Taxpayers To Fix Their Problem – Now Senator Is Leading Community And Personally Calling On The Head of CSX To Make Repairs To This Vital Crossing ASAP
Schumer: CSX Needs To Stop Railroading The Community And Restore This Critical Roadway For Monroe County
Standing at the Gillett Road Bridge in Monroe County, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today called on CSX Transportation to immediately make critical repairs to restore this major crossing, which has been closed since December due to structural deficiencies which pose a public safety threat to vehicle traffic. Schumer explained while CSX has had a year to take action, they have refused to make necessary repairs, leaving a major travel obstruction in place for far too long. The Senator said it’s vital CSX fix this bridge promptly so it can safely be re-opened to travelers and once again serve the community.
“CSX knew about this bridge’s structural issues for over a year and still has failed to make the necessary repairs that will reopen this vital passageway for the Greater Rochester community. They refuse to even claim ownership of the bridge despite records showing CSX made bridge repairs as recently as 2009, and instead think the burden should fall on the local taxpayer for their failure to maintain their own bridge, that is unacceptable. Ensuring the community is safe to cross should be CSX’s highest priority and there is no excuse for idleness when residents and families can’t easily head out of town, commuters can’t get to work, and kids can’t get to school,”,” said Senator Schumer. “CSX needs to stop railroading the community with excuses and make the repairs needed to restore this bridge for the Town of Ogden and Monroe County.”
“The closure of this bridge has caused significant challenges for motorists and residents who rely on the Gillett Road crossing to get to school, go to work, and get home each day. CSX has a responsibility to take action to swiftly and safely address this issue,” said Congressman Joseph Morelle. “I am grateful to Senator Schumer, Supervisor Zale, and County Executive Bello for their partnership as we work together to provide a resolution for the Ogden community.”
Senator Schumer explained that over a year ago, the New York Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) issued a “red flag” warning to CSX for the Gillett Road Bridge upon finding severe structural weaknesses which posed an immediate threat to public safety. Although this has been a known safety issue for months, CSX has refused to take action, forcing Monroe County to close the bridge indefinitely to vehicle traffic in December, after finding that the bridge could not hold a live traffic load.
The Senator said the forced closure of this bridge is causing significant disruption to area inconveniencing and frustrating residents, visitors, and motorists. Its closure is a major obstruction necessitating traffic detours that not only impact residents who live on either side of the bridge but impact the efficient movement of children traveling to and from the Spencerport school campus, emergency or public safety vehicles, shoppers to the Spencerport business district, and more. Furthermore, as the main north-south road, vital travel is essentially dead until the crossing is reopened to vehicle traffic, because the town of Ogden and Village of Spencerport are bisected by the Erie Canal. Gillett Road is one of the few north-south crossings over the Erie Canal and its closure is greatly restricting residents’ movement and causing danger in case of an emergency that requires residents to efficiently travel throughout Ogden and Spencerport.
Schumer said that although CSX is claiming they abandoned the bridge in the 1990s, records indicate they still own it, and have just simply failed to make repairs to the crossing when they were notified by state and local governments multiple times over the past year. Neither the Monroe County Department of Transportation nor the NYSDOT have records indicating that CSX transferred or abandoned ownership rights of the Ogden-Gillett bridge. Since the 1990s, CSX has performed bridge work on at least one occasion in 2009, and appears to have likely performed work on other occasions, including in 2007. The Senator said the fact that CSX has performed maintenance of the bridge as recently as 2009 further indicates CSX did not abandon the bridge when their rail lines were removed, and demonstrates that CSX is responsible for maintaining the bridge now.
“The closure of the Gillette Road Bridge has caused a significant disruption to residents and visitors. It has affected traffic from the town of Ogden into the Spencerport business district and forces emergency vehicles to take alternate routes,” said Monroe County Executive Adam Bello. “CSX has had more than a year to address this safety issue – instead Monroe County Department of Transportation was forced to close the bridge. This lack of responsibility on the company’s part is unacceptable. My thanks to Senator Schumer and Congressman Joseph Morelle for their tireless advocacy and to Supervisor Zale as we all work to get CSX to repair and reopen the Gillette Road Bridge.”
When we were first told that the Gillett Road bridge was closing indefinitely, we knew that this determination would be unacceptable to our residents,” said Ogden Town Supervisor Mike Zale. “This bridge provides a critical access point for the Village of Spencerport, our senior communities, our school district and businesses, and leaving it closed due to a disagreement of ownership was just not going to work for us. I am grateful to Senator Schumer, Congressman Morelle, County Executive Bello and all our partners in government who answered our calls for help and for recognizing the need to resolve this issue. My hope is that we can carry this momentum forward to find a permanent resolution for our community.”
Senator Schumer and Rep. Morelle personally wrote to the CSX CEO demanding they take action and is now calling on CSX to perform the necessary, critical repairs to the Gillett Road Bridge so that vehicle traffic can be restored and once again be open to the commuters, travelers, families, emergency vehicles, and residents who depend on the crossing daily.
This is not the first occasion Schumer has demanded action from CSX in Monroe County. In 2012, Senator Schumer stood at the CSX Spencerport bridge to demand CSX remove three abandoned and graffiti-ridden derelict overhead railroad bridges in Ogden and Spencerport including the Union Street Bridge at the entrance to the Spencerport business district and two other low-hanging bridges over Manitou Road and Washington Street. Schumer successfully pushed CSX remove the low-hanging bridges that were a hazard to vehicle traffic because the bridges had such a low height clearance, vehicles and trucks including delivery trucks to Spencerport businesses like Tops Supermarket would routinely crash into the abandoned rail bridges causing damage, and tying up traffic. In response to Schumer’s call, CSX awarded a contract to Rochester area-based construction company C.P. Ward, which removed all three abandoned and graffiti-ridden railroad bridges in the Town of Ogden and Village of Spencerport.
Schumer concluded, “I stood right in this neighborhood in 2012 and demanded CSX take action to remove three abandoned railroad overpass that stymied vehicle traffic in the heart of Spencerport and the Town of Ogden, and they did, and, now, I’m here again to get this show on the road and make sure this bridge is once again safe for traffic. I thank Representative Morelle, County Executive Bello, and Supervisor Zale for their continued advocacy and support to make sure we repair this vital Gillett Road bridge thoroughfare.”
A copy of Senator Schumer and Representative Morelle’s joint letter to CSX appears below:
Dear Mr. Joseph Hinrichs, CEO of CSX Transportation:
We write to request CSX Transportation immediately take action to fix the CSX-owned bridge that carries Gillett Road over the former CSX rail lines in the Town of Ogden, NY so that this vital crossing can safely be re-opened to vehicle traffic. It’s been a full year since the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) issued CSX a “red flag” warning for the bridge, a designation issued when bridge inspectors determine the failure or potential failure of a primary structural bridge component is likely to occur within two years of the current inspection. Since CSX has not taken action to date, the Monroe County Department of Transportation had no choice but to close the bridge indefinitely to vehicle traffic on December 6, 2023, after a follow-up analysis revealed the bridge posed a threat to public safety because the bridge piers are not capable of handling a lateral load which occurs under any live traffic load.
The forced closure of this bridge is causing significant disruption to area residents, visitors, and motorists. Gillett road is a major north-south thoroughfare in the Town of Odgen that connects into the Spencerport Village business district. Its closure is a major obstruction necessitating traffic detours that not only impact residents who live on either side of the bridge but impact the efficient movement of children traveling to and from the Spencerport school campus, emergency or public safety vehicles, shoppers to the Spencerport business district, and more.
Records indicate that CSX never formally abandoned this property, which was previously used as a rail line before being removed in the 1990s, and is therefore still responsible for maintenance of the bridge. Neither the Monroe County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) nor the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) have records indicating that CSX transferred or abandoned ownership rights of the Ogden-Gillett bridge.
After the removal of the rail lines, records indicate CSX performed bridge work on at least one occasion in 2009, and appears to likely have performed work on other occasions including 2007 when an inspection report noted that temporary fixes were made to the deteriorating girders after the NYSDOT had issued yellow and red structural flags to CSX in 2004 and 2006. Then in 2009, CSX installed metal bearing stiffeners and plates on the bridge’s girders to address the deterioration and reinforce the prior repairs. No evidence exists that MCDOT performed any of this work or paid an outside contractor to perform this work on its behalf. Indeed, NYSDOT’s recorded plans of the 2009 work show the words “CSX Transportation Engineering Division” in the title block.
CSX’s maintenance of the Gillett bridge further demonstrates CSX’s responsibility for maintaining the bridge now. Therefore, we urge CSX to move swiftly to fix the structural deficiencies whether through bridge replacement or bridge removal and ground infill to grade or other means that will safety return vehicle traffic to Gillett Road.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Schumer Joseph Morelle
U.S. Senator U.S. Representative
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