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Hagerstown staff ask council whether to close Summit Avenue rail crossing to unlock repair funds for two other crossings
Summary
City staff presented survey results and negotiations with CSX, MDOT and utilities about closing the Summit Avenue rail crossing and sought direction on four conditions before moving forward, including developer reimbursement and annexation agreements.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — City staff asked the mayor and council on June 10 whether to start the process to permanently close the Summit Avenue railroad crossing to secure state and federal money to repair two other nearby crossings.
The discussion mattered because CSX and the Maryland Department of Transportation have conditioned repairs of the Park Circle crossings on the closure of Summit Avenue, and staff said MDOT has programmed roughly $150,000 previously held for repairs. City staff recommended moving forward only if four conditions are met: reimbursement to the city for closure costs, a pre‑annexation/annexation agreement with the developer that would reimburse the city and ultimately bring the developed land into Hagerstown, resolution of Columbia Gas access concerns, and formal CSX assurance that MDOT funds will be freed to repair the other crossings.
Jim Bender, the city’s presenter on the issue, told the council staff distributed about 600 paper survey forms in the South End and received 56 responses: 29 favored closing Summit Avenue and 27 opposed. He said the most common opposition concerns were shifting traffic onto Park Circle and dissatisfaction with CSX’s past inaction on crossings.
Bender said he had met with CSX, MDOT and Columbia Gas and that Columbia Gas now appears willing to upgrade its Potomac Street secondary access if needed. He said a development group interested in the I‑70 Gateway project has discussed reimbursing the city for physical closure costs and could enter an annexation agreement so the city ultimately would capture property tax revenue.
Bender summarized the four conditions he would recommend if the council authorizes staff to proceed: (1) the city be reimbursed for pavement removal and related works, (2) the developer enter a pre‑annexation or annexation agreement, (3) Columbia Gas access issues be resolved, and (4) CSX or MDOT commit to freeing funds to repair the Park Circle crossings.
Council members pressed on logistics, public‑safety response times and costs. Staff said Public Safety and Utilities reviewed the plan and “didn’t see that as a big hindrance to their response times.” Staff also explained that MDOT would design the repairs and likely fund them, and that CSX employees might perform work under MDOT direction, but CSX would not likely pay the bill because of federal exemptions for railroads.
No formal council motion was taken at the meeting. Instead staff said it would prepare a motion for the regular meeting next week that would lay out the recommended conditions for closing the crossing and seek the council’s vote.
Council members noted residents’ concerns about access to the few homes on Summit Avenue and possible traffic shifts, and asked staff to include those impacts in the forthcoming motion.
If the council votes to proceed at the next meeting, staff said there are several implementation steps that would need to be negotiated in writing with the developer, Columbia Gas, MDOT and CSX before the crossing is physically closed.
