A little more than a year after heavy rains caused a block of E. 26th Street to sink onto the railroad tracks 30 feet below, taking with it eight cars, street lamps and blacktop, city officials on Thursday said restoration of the street is now complete.
"We're very pleased today to be here to announce that we are moving into a mode where we're completed with the construction on this roadway and where we're ready to officially restore this neighborhood and turn it back over to the residents," said transportation director William M. Johnson, during a news conference on the street Thursday.
The street reopened on May 22 after a full-scale reconstruction of the block and the retaining wall holding it. It had crumbled, between St. Paul and North Charles streets, above the CSX Transportation tracks below on April 30, 2014, after intense rains disintegrated the 100-year-old stone retaining wall. The collapse was captured on video and went viral online, attracting international news.
"It took months of extensive excavation, slope stabilization, pile driving, drilling, concrete work and other aspects of construction to restore and reinvent, if you will, this retaining wall," Johnson said.
The work continued through the bitterly cold weather this past winter, he said, with final paving being completed this spring.
"We realize the process was not an easy process for our residents here," he said, "And again, we want to thank them. We understood the inconvenience of the late night construction and early morning concrete pours."
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.
Reginald Scriber, a deputy commissioner with Baltimore Housing said the city spent $150,000 in relocation efforts, for hotel stays, food accommodations and parking for the residents.
Johnson said the estimated cost of repairing is about $13 million, half of which will be paid by CSX officials.
Brian W. Hammock, resident vice president of state government affairs for CSX, said that residents have "patiently endured the brunt of the effects of this collapse," but have helped contribute to the development of a new plan, resulting in "a better retaining wall."
Moving forward, Williams said CSX will be responsible for the retaining wall. After the collapse, city and CSX officials said it was not immediately clear who was responsible for repairing and maintaining the retaining wall.
"We don't believe it's the city's responsibility," Williams said on Thursday.
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