A small neighborhood just south of Toledo’s Amtrak station has only three ways for pedestrians to get in and out. Norfolk Southern says it plans to take one of them away.
The city should demand adequate compensation for pedestrians.
The access point in question is the old Sumner Street bridge. Once, it took drivers as well as walkers over the tracks just west of the station. But I-75 ended that. Now it’s only for pedestrians. Removing it would force those walking north from the neighborhood to go under the highway and use the Broadway Street bridge, a quarter mile of extra walking.
And that’s what Norfolk Southern plans for them. The railroad wants the Sumner Street bridge gone. But the railroad doesn’t own the bridge. Toledo does. City of Toledo spokesman Janet Schroeder said for the city to grant permission to demolish the bridge would require legislation in council.
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When and if it agrees to such a measure, council should make sure it looks out for the city’s pedestrians, especially those in South Toledo.
If Norfolk Southern wants to demolish the bridge, council should make sure it provides at least as much value to pedestrians as to drivers. That could mean putting up a new, higher pedestrian bridge, either where the Sumner Street bridge is now or somewhere it will serve more foot traffic.
Norfolk Southern could be the first to deposit into an account dedicated to sidewalk repair.
The poor condition of sidewalks throughout our city, and the flirtation in the fall with leaving their maintenance out of the 2017 capital improvement budget, suggest contempt for pedestrians. And letting Norfolk Southern demolish a pedestrian bridge without doing something for pedestrians to make up for it would be a further insult.
All of us are, at least some of the time, pedestrians. And it’s when walking that we most experience our neighborhoods and have the opportunity to interact with the people we live among.
Council must stand up for those who walk.
First Published July 3, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
