Cornelia City Commissioners tonight are expected to discuss a request by Norfolk Southern Railway to remove the Hoyt Street Bridge. City Manager, Donald Anderson, says he’s received numerous complaints from residents about that request. The city recently put up barricades in front of the bridge – located off Irvin street just west of the downtown district – in an effort to simulate what traffic patterns would be like without it. The barricades were supposed to be up for two weeks but Anderson says they didn’t make it that long. He says residents became so unhappy they removed the barricades after the first week. Anderson says he even received a call from the Post Master in Cornelia telling him the temporary bridge closing messed up their delivery route. Since then, Anderson says he’s been “flooded with complaints” from people telling him what an inconvenience it would be for them if the bridge was permanently closed.
Norfolk Southern submitted a request to the City of Cornelia back in July requesting permission to remove Hoyt Street Bridge at no cost to the city. Railroad officials say the bridge structure is hindering the railroad’s efforts to replace and maintain the tracks beneath it. Although Norfolk Southern owns the bridge the law prohibits the company from demolishing it without the city’s permission.
Anderson says he believes closing Hoyt Street Bridge would be a hardship on citizens and create a public safety liability for the city. He presented a recommendation to Cornelia City Commissioners on October 7 asking them to allow him to work with the City Attorney to draft a letter to Norfolk Southern denying its request.
