Councilman Ecker updates Board of Works on Lake Avenue railroad crossing improvements

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

During Monday's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, Plymouth Councilman Don Ecker updated the board on the rough railroad crossing on Lake Avenue/State Road 17.

Ecker brought up the issues with the crossing in the summer of 2024. While Lake Avenue/State Road 17 isn’t a city street, he felt the city could assist the state in getting the railroad to take action on the problem and took the lead on fixing the issue.

Ecker has been in regular contact with Katie Roller, Patriot Rail's Director of Public Affairs. On Monday evening, he read an email from their engineering department that gave an update on the crossing rehab project, which was scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2025.

The email said, “Our contractor DWR is awaiting delivery of the concrete tubs for the foundations of the new crossings. They hope to complete all these repairs by the end of June.”

Ecker said, “We are still on target for the end of Q2, and that will be a huge blessing for Lake Avenue and the people who have to stop and go crossing that track.”

Mayor Listenberger thanked the media for promoting the issues because it brought the issue to light for Patriot Rail, which made temporary repairs to the rail crossing. He said there will be some traffic disruption, but it will be better when they are done.