Railroad, village working on agreement

1 The Orion village board is closer than ever to reaching an agreement with Burlington Northern Sante Fe officials, which wants the village to drop its opposition to removing the 13th Avenue bridge.

These are the tentative details announced Monday, Jan. 18:2 The railroad would pay Orion a substantial amount of money, $65,000, which Orion Village President Jim Cooper requested on instructions from the board. 

3 Burlington Northern Santa Fe would install signal arms at all three crossings, as early as March 2011. The crossings would cost a total of $750,000.

4 The railroad would install new decking and new guardrails on the Seventh Street bridge. Burlington Northern Santa Fe would retain ownership of the bridge, which would be maintained at a level that allows current weight limits to remain. That it is, emergency vehicles would be able to use the bridge.

5 Railroad crews would remove the bridge soon. At the railroad’s expense, they would install barricades at the nearest intersection on either side.