(rshsdepot) Fredericksburg, VA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Free Lance-Star.
Original story, with pictures, at:
_http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/032008/03042008/359974_ 
(http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/032008/03042008/359974) 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Station issue studied but solutions, money elusive  
 
VRE train station repairs to start during spring or summer of 2009 
 
Date published: 3/4/2008 
 

By KELLY HANNON
 

The downtown Fredericksburg train station is safe for trains, according  to 
the Virginia Railway Express, but the elevated, concrete structure needs an  
overhaul.
 
"It's pretty ratty," said Fredericksburg City Councilman Marvin Dixon, a  
member of VRE's Operations Board.
 
Before her death, Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis secured $2.5 million to  improve 
the station, which was built in 1910 and is now owned by CSX Corp. of  
Jacksonville, Fla.
 
An engineering firm hired by VRE with $50,000 of the federal money has  
pinpointed needed repairs, and work will begin in spring or summer of 2009. 
 
The project still needs to be designed, and the construction work must go  
through a bidding process.
 
The station has multiple overpasses, and connects to a railroad bridge over  
the Rappahannock River. The overpasses cross Sophia, Caroline, Princess Anne 
and  Charles streets. 
 
The structure was built like a viaduct, with the ballast and train tracks  
laid into it, said Dale Zehner, VRE's chief executive officer. There is one  
central draining point for water. 
 
Over the years, the drainage system has become clogged, Zehner said. 
 
Trapped water freezes and thaws, damaging the concrete. 
 
Pieces of it have fallen from the overpasses on to city streets and  
sidewalks. Leaking water also has damaged walkways below. 
 
A former city councilman once mailed a fallen chunk of concrete to CSX  
headquarters, warning that pedestrians could be injured by falling debris. 
 
"Water is the worst enemy," said Mark Roeber, VRE manager of government  
relations and public affairs. "It causes chipping and cracking because of the  
pressure it puts on the physical structure, especially with its age." 
 
The city of Fredericksburg has paid for cosmetic improvements to the  
station--painting, fixing broken windows, repairing concrete as best it could,  and 
cleaning out some "dingy and smelly" areas, Dixon said. 
 
The city does not own the station, but its condition is important to  
Fredericksburg, Dixon said. "It's one of the city gateways," Dixon said. 
 
The upcoming station work should repair the chipping and falling concrete  
problem, but it will not solve the station's future needs. 
 
Long-term repairs to the station and overpasses could cost $3 million to $6  
million, Zehner estimated last week at a public hearing in Stafford County. He 
 hopes to lobby for state and federal funding for that work, matched by CSX. 
 
Amtrak, CSX, VRE and Fredericksburg must agree on future improvements,  
Roeber said. 
 
"We wouldn't want anybody to think this cures everything," Roeber said. "  
We're not going to solve the problem until all of us get together and say, 'We  
are going to partner together and make long-term improvements and investments 
to  make it the best it can be.'"
 
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436 
Email: _khannon_@_freelancestar.com_ (mailto:khannon@freelancestar.com) 



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