The City of Cumberland has requested that the State obligate funding to replace the Washington Street Bridge, one of three bridges over a CSX railway, and this project appears as a system-preservation priority in Allegany County’s 2026 Transportation Priority Letter. CSX and the City have been negotiating bridge ownership, with the City expected to assume ownership of this structure, which serves a historic district and requires raising the under-clearance by nearly four feet, new retaining walls, and full replacement of the bridge superstructure and approaches. The project estimate is 6000000. The bridge currently suffers from closure-related impacts and traffic detours, making it a high-visibility and politically salient project. Once MDOT programs funds, the City will need full A/E services, CSX coordination, and complex construction staging in a constrained rail corridor. Bridge engineering firms and heavy civil contractors experienced with railroad overpasses and historic urban contexts should begin building relationships with the City and County now.

Ownership and cost-sharing arrangements between the City, State, and CSX are being worked out; the b...