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Date: 3/17/2022
SPRINGFIELD – The City Council accepted a $3 million memorandum from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) toward construction to improve Riverfront Park’s northern underpass entrance during their March 7 meeting.
Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Christopher Cignoli discussed the memorandum, which comes roughly three years after Amtrak closed the crossing entrance located at the end of State Street and in Riverfront Park. Due to the closing, Amtrak and the city negotiated an agreement that funds Springfield’s accessibility and maintenance improvements of the site’s entrance.
“We negotiated with Amtrak to provide us with $3 million to do landside design and construction of a plan that will make access at the existing underpass ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant and used by all residents during the normal day,” said Cignoli. The proposed entrance will become the train’s primary entryway, with the gates at the railroad crossing still opening while special events occur at Riverfront, according to Cignoli.
After Councilor At-Large Jesse Lederman inquired about the project’s current state, Cignoli shared that design will commence once the item is accepted by the council. The DPW director also revealed that the city already created a preliminary plan for the construction.
“It’s essentially called phase three of Riverfront Park development, and it’s basically the land side of the railroad crossing between the railroad and West Columbus and Hall of Fame avenues,” said Cignoli. The city expects the $3 million memorandum to cover the entire cost of the project. Cignoli said the current plan is for Springfield to outreach for a permanent designer over the next few weeks.
“It will probably take us a month and a half to get a designer on board, and then we will be able to start getting plans in place,” said Cignoli.
While the memorandum is progressing, Cignoli stressed that Amtrak continues to be difficult to work with. The DPW director said the city waited the last four years to receive a special permit for finishing work at Riverfront Park.
“Amtrack has been absolutely horrible, horrible, horrible, I cannot say horrible enough, to deal with working over the last few years on projects in the city of Springfield … it’s absolutely disgusting the amount of time that we’ve waited in the permitting process,” said Cignoli.
Due to the lack of communication, Cignoli said the city pressed Amtrak to agree to the memorandum, stating their intentions to work with the Department of Public Utilities to make the project a reality if Amtrak was not on board.
City Councilor At-Large Sean Curran also asked about painting the bridges on Dwight Street and Chestnut Street, with both bridges serving as train overpasses. Cignoli said both bridges continue to be a “bone of contention” between the city and Amtrak, stressing that the project is another example of a roadblocked collaboration with the organization.
“We’ve been trying to work with them in so many different levels to get this stuff done and we always seem to hit roadblocks with them,” said Cignoli.
After discussion, the City Council approved the memorandum in a unanimous vote.