Plans are moving forward to build a railroad overpass through a stretch of open land in Hessville, despite environmental concerns.
Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. defended the proposal during a contentious Mayor's Night Out event Wednesday. He said the number one complaint he gets from Hessville residents is trains.
"Over the holidays, for anybody that lives in this part of the city, there was a train blockage for almost four days straight in Hessville," McDermott said. "The train didn't move for four days."
McDermott said neither the city nor the state government has the power to hold railroads accountable for blocking crossings. "The Hammond Police can't do anything about this. The trains laugh at them if they want to give them a ticket," the mayor added.
One thing the city can do is build a bridge over the tracks, and funding is now available through the state's Local Trax program. The Indiana Department of Transportation would contribute $7.5 million toward the overpass and oversee the design process. The city of Hammond would pay $2.5 million, while Norfolk Southern would chip in $500,000.
But building the overpass on an existing street would require the demolition of dozens of homes, so City Engineer Dean Button said the city decided to put it east of Parrish Avenue between 169th and 173rd, where the city already owns much of the land.
"We thought that this was a very good, unique, sort of an elegant solution," Button said. "What I didn't realize was the effect on nature."
Some residents and environmental groups worry the bridge would destroy the four-thousand-year-old sand dunes in the Briar East Woods. Some of those in attendance Wednesday criticized the proposed overpass as an outdated solution and suggested the city explore other options, like an underpass or pedestrian bridges.
But Button said an underpass would cost twice as much, and he promised that all federal environmental procedures would be followed. "We still have to connect to Parrish Avenue. That was the difficult part," Button noted. "The bridge in and of itself isn't anywhere near the dune. It's in a different area."
Mayor McDermott said he believes a majority of Hessville residents support the project.
