Council hears update on railroad grade-separation; west-curved alignment recommended

The Circleville City Council Committee of the Whole received an update Tuesday evening on a long-studied railroad grade-separation project intended to improve emergency-response reliability and reduce traffic interruptions.

"So I'm Craig Littmer with American Structure Point. I'm project manager for this," Littmer said as he opened the presentation, which reviewed a feasibility study that narrowed seven initial options to four practicable alignments. He told the council the study and public input supported a west-curved alternative.

Littmer said the project was awarded Federal Railroad Administration funding and described the budget and next steps. "We were awarded the FRA grant, $25,000,000 project cost, 20,000,000 of which was funded, and the remaining 5,000,000 was split between the Ohio Rail Development Commission and Circleville," he said. The team recommended Alternative 4 (the west curve) from their evaluation matrix and will carry that option into detailed design and additional public engagement this fall.

Council members asked about who must sign off on the detailed design. Littmer said ODOT District 6 has approved the project geometry, Ohio Environmental Services supports the preferred alternative, and the Ohio Rail Development Commission is on board; he also reported that ORDC had recently engaged the railroad for concurrence on design sets.

The presenter said the design work will focus on bridge geometry, retaining walls, frontage-road options and measures to reduce impacts to private parcels. He reiterated a target for construction work to begin in 2030 with substantial completion by 2032, subject to review cycles and railroad concurrence.

The council did not take a formal vote on the alignment at the meeting; the update was presented as an informational briefing and the design team said they will return with more-detailed plans and a public involvement meeting in the coming months.