The Prosser Avenue, Interstate 75, and State Route 562 Railroad Overpasses carry the Norfolk Southern Railway over Prosser Avenue, Interstate 75, and State Route 562 in Elmwood Place, Ohio.
The Prosser Avenue, Interstate 75, and State Route 562 Railroad Overpasses carry the Norfolk Southern Railway over Prosser Avenue, Interstate 75, and State Route 562 in Elmwood Place, Ohio.
The line was originally completed in 1901 as the Cincinnati Connecting Belt Railroad (CCB) by the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Railroad (CP&V). 1 3 It extended between Idlewild in Norwood and Ivorydale in St. Bernard. That same year, the CP&V was merged into the Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W). 2 The CCB included a complex viaduct with a through truss bridge spanning the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (Big Four), now part of Norfolk Southern’s Dayton District, and Vine Street. This viaduct connected to the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad (CH&D) and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), now part of CSX’s Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision, in St. Bernard.
The CCB allowed the N&W to bypass central Cincinnati by linking Idlewild and Ivorydale. However, its importance declined when new connecting tracks were constructed in East Norwood, providing the N&W direct access to the Mill Creek Valley and Union Terminal via the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
By the early 1990s, the connection to the CH&D and B&O lines, including the viaduct over Vine Street and the Big Four’s successor, Conrail, had been abandoned. The viaduct was removed by 2000. The connection at Idlewild also fell into disuse with the decline of rail-served industry in Norwood and Evanston, and the N&W received permission from the Surface Transportation Board to abandon the CCB between Idlewild and the B&O in Bond Hill.
The 1901 plate girder bridge over Prosser Avenue, the 1958 girder bridge over Interstate 75, and the 1959 girder bridge over State Route 562 are being replaced as part of the $46.8 million Phase 8 of the Mill Creek Expressway reconstruction project. 5 The replacements were originally scheduled for 2022, but construction began in the fall of 2024 and is expected to be completed in 2028. 4
Details
- State: Ohio
- Route: Norfolk Southern Railroad
- Status: Active (Railroad)
- Type: Girder, Plate Girder
Sources
- “N&W to Portsmouth.” Cincyrails.com.
- “Corporate Timeline of the Norfolk & Western Railway.” The Norfolk and Western Historical Society.
- Jakucyk, Jeffrey. “Norfolk & Western, Cincinnati Connecting Belt Railroad.” Cincinnati Traction History.
- “Maintenance of Traffic for Mill Creek Expressway: Phase 8 (HAM IR 75 7.85, PID 77889).” Ohio Department of Transportation.
- “I-75 Mill Creek Expressway.” Ohio Department of Transportation.