LORAIN, Ohio — After reaching out to several entities, we are getting more insight into the safety of the East 28th Street railroad bridge and underpass.
I reached out to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA.) The agency is tasked with overseeing and auditing railroad bridge management programs to make sure they comply with federal safety standards.
“However, the safety of individual railroad bridges, including their inspection, maintenance, and repair, is the responsibility of the track owner (i.e. the railroad,)” said Deputy Director of Public Affairs Warren Flatau in a statement sent to News 5. “FRA does not maintain a national inventory of railroad bridges, nor does it have statutory authority to directly inspect them.”
I emailed the agency a significant portion of the video, posted online, that sparked the concerns, and was told bridge safety staff watched the video “multiple times and said there is nothing obviously unsafe about this bridge, despite its aesthetic appearance.”
RELATED: 'Do you think this bridge is safe?' Lorain residents concerned with East 28th Street bridge
It’s a similar response CSX, the owner of the railroad bridge, sent to News 5 earlier in the week. CSX said it was inspected in November 2024 and is safe for railroad operations.
According to the FRA, the railroad is also supposed to mitigate the danger of falling debris during routine inspection and maintenance.
Lorain’s safety service director told News 5 that a meeting will be happening soon with city leaders, ODOT, and CSX. After emailing Mayor Jack Bradley Friday morning, I learned more about recent communication.
"Our engineers have the ODOT assessment of the bridge from last year which indicates the bridge meets minimum ODOT standards and the bridge is scheduled to be inspected again this year," he said.
"We are also reaching out to the railroad to do some maintenance on the bridge."
Bradley said ODOT would not allow the use of the bridge if it posed a risk to safety or the public.
