The short block of E. 26th Street that dramatically collapsed into a parallel railroad cut in Charles Village one year ago has been reopened to traffic.
The street reopened on May 22 after a full-scale reconstruction of the block and the retaining wall holding it above the CSX Transportation tracks below, said Adrienne Barnes, a city transportation department spokeswoman.
William Johnson, the department's director, will officially reopen the street on Thursday, along with CSX officials, Barnes said.
Much of the street — as well as the sidewalk, light posts and parked vehicles along it — between St. Paul and North Charles streets collapsed into the railroad cut on April 30, 2014 after intense rains undermined the integrity of a more than 100-year-old stone retaining wall, city officials said.
The collapse was captured on video by a resident of one of the pastel row houses on the street and went viral online, attracting international news.
Johnson recently estimated the cost of repairing the wall on an emergency basis as between $12 million and $13 million. CSX officials have agreed to pay half, they said.
The residents of the 19 homes on the street have secured legal representation and asked the city to compensate them for the year of heavy construction on their block.
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