Sherrod Brown Once Again Demands Norfolk Southern Fix Dilapidated Lake Ave. Bridge

Seven months since Sen. Sherrod Brown mailed his harangues to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, the lawmaker is at it again. The problem: Shaw hasn’t done enough to address issues with the “dilapidated” Lake Avenue Bridge.

“Despite an initial cleanup by Norfolk Southern,” Brown wrote Shaw in a letter on Monday, “neighborhood residents have reported to my office that mud still streams down the walls and onto the sidewalk, dirty water drips from above, and pieces of concrete continue to fall onto the roadway.”

Instead, Brown’s received what seems to be a corporate cold shoulder.

“This is not acceptable,” he wrote.

Ever since a train derailed outside East Palestine, Ohio, in March, leading to a mass evacuation of everyone in a one-mile radius, Norfolk Southern—and train infrastructure in general—have been in the crosshairs of politicians with environmental concerns.

Such a derailment, along with those outside Sandusky, Cleveland and Beaver County, Penns., have been met with an underwhelming response from the company, politicians have said. Community efforts to push Norfolk to work on the bridge have been underway since at least 2018.

In reports from Brown and Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer, whose ward contains the Lake Avenue Bridge, Shaw has responded somewhat, mostly by removing debris, and installing plywood on the bridge’s underside. (Part of which has since fallen off.)

“Efforts,” Brown wrote in his letter, that were “clearly insufficient.”

“The community and I expect Norfolk Southern to address these issues and repair the bridge’s historic cast iron façade without delay.” he said.

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