St. Joseph County officials want to explore building a pedestrian railroad underpass in New Carlisle.
In 1925 the Lincoln-Way Viaduct was built in New Carlisle to carry the famous highway, now called U.S. 20, over two sets of railroad tracks. It eliminated what was called the Death Crossing because so many trains were hitting cars.
Now the county wants to explore building a tunnel under those tracks to make crossing them safer on bikes or on foot.
At their meeting Tuesday, the county redevelopment commission will consider hiring a firm, for up to $131,000, to conduct a feasibility study to see if an underpass is possible and if so, what it would cost.
County economic development director Bill Schalliol says the underpass is envisioned in the town’s comprehensive plan, and the county has been working with the town on a pedestrian and bicycle trail plan.
“Really the complication is how do you get to the other side of the tracks?" Schalliol says. "So as we look at a potential (South Shore) train station in the town, everybody said well that’s great, you can put it over there but if we’re coming by foot or by bike, we need to be able to get there.”
The underpass would be funded by new property taxes paid in the county’s New Carlisle TIF area, which includes the Amazon data center.
