Mixed reaction to planned Hammond overpass over whether it will relieve train blockages

Hammond residents debated how effective a planned overpass on the city’s southeast side will be at increasing car and pedestrian safety amid the persistent problem of stopped trains at a Wednesday night meeting at Scott Middle School.

The meeting was held on the same day that ProPublica published a report on the city’s persistent problem with trains blocking roads, sometimes multiple times a week, for hours on end. The report included shocking images and video of elementary school students climbing over or crawling under stopped trains to get to school, risking death or serious injury.

The rail line, operated by the Norfolk Southern Railroad Company, diagonally bisects the city of Hammond, affecting both north-south and east-west streets.

To help the city cope with blockages, INDOT contractor Crawford Murphy and Tilly, a Chicago-based engineering consultant, has proposed an overpass that would cut through the wooded area from 173rd Street and 169th Street between Parrish Avenue and Grand Avenue. The new roadway would carry two lanes of traffic and a shared-use pathway for pedestrians and cyclists. As part of the project, existing railroad crossings at Parrish Avenue and Arizona Avenue would be permanently closed.

In addition to separating many of the city’s children from their schools, protracted train stoppages have resulted in wait times of up to 20 minutes for emergency services.

Hammond Police spokesman Lt. Steve Kellogg said that the department does not keep statistics on train congestion, and stressed that local law enforcement is largely powerless in that area. He pointed to a 2018 ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court striking down municipalities’ statutory power to ticket trains that blocked street crossings for more than 10 minutes, which took away the Hammond Police Department’s one paltry enforcement tool.

“Pardon the pun,” he said, “we’re handcuffed when they’re stopped.”

When the Hammond Fire Department built their new Station 8 at 165th and Parrish six years ago, an unintended benefit is that the firefighters can see whether they’re going to be stopped by trains, Hammond Fire Chief Jeff Smith said. If they’re blocked at 165th, they can go to 169th and head over to Kennedy Avenue or take various other contingency routes, but that doesn’t solve the problem.

“You’re still adding to response time, and that’s never good,” he said.

The plan to build the overpass, to be named Governors Parkway, was selected from among a list of options that were considered for their cost as well as their impact on homes, businesses, emergency response times, car traffic and pedestrian access. The Governors Parkway proposal was the only option considered that involved creating a new roadway.

In a presentation to the more than 200 people in attendance, project manager Nick Batta said that the plan would require the lowest amount of residential and business relocations while offering middling construction costs. The project is anticipated to cost just under $14 million dollars, with the majority of the cost borne by the state. Norfolk Southern will be statutorily required to contribute 5% of the total cost.

In his presentation, Batta said that the Governors Parkway project has the support of the community, pointing to the results of a 2022 survey of local residents that found 63% respondents were “somewhat” or “strongly” in favor of a new bridge at the proposed location.

The current proposal is not yet final. Batta told the Post-Tribune that “all alternatives are still in play,” including the other plans considered by the company and other solutions that are suggested during the public comment process, which will remain ongoing until May 26.

During over two hours of public testimony, speakers voiced disagreements over the plan and proposed an array of alternative solutions. Opponents of the Governors Parkway proposal took issue with its seeming failure to prioritize pedestrian access to schools — pointing out that some students walking north to Scott and Hess Elementary will have to trek as much as two miles out of their way in order to use the new overpass while a train is blocking other routes.

“The kid will still pop the trains,” T.J. Gaertig told the crowd. “This does nothing for that.”

John Ratajczak, a lifelong Hammond resident, said that he often made the dangerous decision to climb across stopped trains as a child, and doesn’t see the proposed overpass as a way to help today’s kids stay safe.

“If I was still back in school, I would be doing the same stupid stuff,” he said.

Other speakers put forward proposals Ken Edwards, the State Legislative Director for SMART Transportation — the country’s largest rail worker union — told attendees that lobbying for legal restrictions on the length of trains could help solve the city’s blockage problem, receiving a round of applause.

Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott has staunchly backed the overpass proposal, though he acknowledged that it is not an ideal solution for the children currently clambering across stopped trains.

“I’ve heard people say that we need to do more, but I think this is going to take care of 90% of the problem,” he told the Post-Tribune. “Granted, the few kids that are still walking to school, they’ll either have to walk up around the new bridge — which is out of their way, I acknowledge — or they’ll be stuck waiting like they are currently, but for all the parents who drive their kids to school, for the kids who take their bike, this is a legitimate detour that’ll get you where you need to be.”

A handful of city officials joined McDermott in voicing support for the plan during the meeting. Sixth District Councilman Scott Rakos lauded the plan for only requiring the relocation of two Hammond residents.

“I’m very impressed with what you did,” he told Batta.

In a statement to the Post-Tribune, School City of Hammond Superintendent Scott Miller avoided taking an explicit stand on which approach the city should take.

“SCH supports any options that are available that make it possible for students, staff, and other commuters to travel to their destinations without unnecessary delays,” he wrote. “We look forward to the day when walkers and drivers aren’t negatively impacted by stopped trains.”

The plan was criticized by some for its environmental impact as the creation of the new overpass would require the removal of 12 acres of trees on an area of dunes and one of the city’s rare green spaces. Ken Rosek, who lives in Hammond’s Hessville Neighborhood, has coordinated a group of neighbors dubbed the “Hessville Dune Dusters” in opposition to the plan.

“There’s nesting red tailed hawks and there’s barn owls red foxes and things like that. It’s a beautiful ecosystem that we need in Hessville because we’re surrounded by expressways and industry,” he told the Post-Tribune. “So I think we need to save everything we could possibly save. They balance out the harshness that surrounds us.

Many of the Governors Parkway proposal’s detractors joined Rosek in calling instead for an underpass at Grand Avenue that would preserve the dunes and allow easier access to schools. That option was among those considered by the consultants alongside the Governors Parkway plan, but Batta said that any underpass project would be particularly challenging due to the area’s high water table, requiring the near-constant use of pumps to keep it from flooding.

In order to mitigate the environmental impact of building a new roadway, the Governors Parkway would involve contributing just over $228,000 to fund the replanting of 24 acres of the affected area in collaboration with the Student Conservation Association.