CUMBERLAND — The federal government is the cause of stalled work on a West Side bridge, city officials said Tuesday.
The Cumberland Street bridge replacement is on hold pending Federal Highway Administration authorization to advertise the project.
“I heard from them this week and they’re still reviewing the package,” Cumberland Director of Engineering and Utilities Robert Smith said at a mayor and City Council work session Tuesday.
“It’s just unfortunate … especially in light of the fact that (the State Highway Administration) just announced that they got authorization to start design work on the (Chesapeake) Bay Bridge and they expect the design process to only take four years,” Smith said. “I know it’s a much different level of importance, but (if) they can get it done in four years, why the heck has it taken us 10 years?”
Federal officials are aware that the city needs the approval in order to move forward with the project, he said.
“We have to be able to issue notice to proceed in March so we can get trees removed,” Smith said and alluded to a federal required environmental endangered species study. “Otherwise this project doesn’t start until August 1 because I have a moratorium on cutting trees down because of bats that don’t exist.”
Trees must come down first, followed by Breezeline’s removal of lines from the bridge, “so that we can remove the super structure,” Smith said.
“Otherwise, we can’t really do it safely without those trees being gone,” he said. “As of right now, we are at the mercy of federal highway.”
The Cumberland Street bridge, over CSX Transportation rail lines, has been closed since 2017 after the aging structure failed a safety inspection.
City officials in May 2018 said they received “completed construction cost estimates and design alternatives” for the Cumberland Street bridge.
The city retained the Wilson T. Ballard Company, consulting engineers that specialize in bridge repair and construction, to provide preliminary engineering services regarding bridge replacements.
“WTB has since recommended the complete replacement of the super structure and the sub structure of the Cumberland Street bridge using pre-stressed concrete components for an estimated cost of $3 million,” city officials said at that time.
In June 2019, state consultants selected Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and EBA Engineering, both of the Baltimore area, to work jointly on a design for the new bridge.
The following November, the city and CSX agreed to terms for removal and replacement of the bridge.
An April 2020 letter from the Allegany County Board of Commissioners to the Maryland Department of Transportation stated that city officials requested funding for design and construction of the Cumberland Street Bridge.
City officials in July 2022 said construction could be underway the following summer.
“To solve an ongoing debate between the city and CSX Transportation on who owned the bridge, the city agreed to purchase the span for $1 allowing planning to move forward,” a Cumberland Times-News article at that time stated. “At 23 feet high, the bridge meets current federal transportation guidelines. Therefore, the estimated cost of $3 million will be 80% paid for with federal dollars, with CSX picking up the 20% balance.”
In November 2025, Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, a retired CSX employee, said work on the bridge was expected to begin summer of that year.