Tuesday, April 21, 1998
Hamilton County construction crews have removed the controversial riverfront railroad tracks south of Mehring Way as part of construction of the $400.3 million Bengals stadium complex.
County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks and is seeking permission to abandon them, gave the county the OK to remove them.
But the Indiana & Ohio Railroad, which argues it has dibs on buying the tracks when Norfolk Southern abandons them, thinks the county shouldn't have acted without approval from the federal Surface Transportation Board, spokeswoman Marilyn Hyland said.
Nancy Beiter, a staff attorney for the surface transportation board, said the railroad can remove the tracks but must replace them if the Indiana & Ohio wins its fight before the board.
If the Indiana & Ohio wins, Mr. Bedinghaus said, the county will simply move the tracks out of the way of the stadium complex.
Ms. Beiter said the railroad and county could do that without the board's permission.
