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Resident proposes River Road reroute to remove rail crossing, cites grant funding and $1.1M estimate
Summary
A resident proposed rerouting River Road to eliminate a railroad crossing and said crossing removal could raise grant reimbursement rates to 80%; he estimated the project “just under $1.1 million” and urged the borough to start with a wetlands delineation survey.
John HGY, a Bristol resident who spoke during public participation, proposed that the borough reroute River Road to remove a railroad crossing and argued that doing so would strengthen the community's case for federal and state rail-safety grants.
"The total cost is just under $1.1 million," John HGY said, and he told council that removal of a crossing can increase typical grant reimbursement from 70% to 80% if the project is classified as a crossing removal. He described a conceptual reroute that would run across land owned by Bristol Township, noted a wetlands overlay that his map showed touching the design by about 0.04 acres, and recommended a delineation survey as the first step.
He named potential partners including Bristol Township and "DAO Chemical," and urged the borough to consider land-value credit toward local match and to pursue the Federal Railroad Administration's competitive grant process. He also said leveraging existing signal infrastructure at other crossings could lower construction costs.
Council members and the borough engineer acknowledged the idea and said staff would review the packet John provided. An engineer cautioned that rail owners historically resist track removal and that feasibility would require detailed engineering and coordination with rail operators.
Next steps discussed on the record included providing the packet to borough and township engineers and doing a wetlands delineation to confirm the environmental footprint before pursuing grant applications.
