Repairing and reopening the pedestrian tunnel under the railroad tracks near the city’s downtown has proved to be an adventure for Powell city officials.
Five years after it was closed due to crumbling concrete and later reopened with temporary scaffolding, the Adventure Park tunnel remains on the city’s to-do list.
The latest initiative toward resolution is a contract with Columbus engineering firm GPD Group for options to rehabilitate the tunnel or provide an alternative access from one side of the tracks to the other. Council approved the contract for $106,747 on June 7.
“I just want to see this project move forward,” council member Frank Bertone said.
Council had put repair of the tunnel out to bid earlier this year but since has opted for further study.
City Manager Andrew White told ThisWeek the project remains a priority for the city.
“From the railroad’s point of view, it’s a drainage culvert, and as long as it does that, that’s all they’re concerned about,” White said. “In 1997, when the city developed on the (west) side of the tracks, it was converted into a dual-purpose tunnel for pedestrian and bicycle access to (Adventure Park).”
White said structural issues with the tunnel and cascading water are still problems. And scaffolding installed last year as a temporary fix remains a “safety hazard.”
"Is it best for the community to modify what was done in 1997, to configure additional drainage to keep the tunnel dry? Or could there be other options?” White said regarding the decision facing council.
Per the contract, GPD Group would present options to council in the fall, putting any work on the tunnel on the city’s 2023 capital-improvements schedule, he said.
“Council’s desire would be to commit to an option as soon as possible,” he said.
White said funding is available for the project as part of the city’s capital-improvements program as a result of the city’s new income-tax structure approved by voters in 2021.
Council has approved funding for a five-year CIP to address new projects, maintenance and the purchase and upkeep of city equipment and has agreed on a list of needed projects, White said.
The city staff will continue to prioritize that work over the next five years, White said.
The Adventure Park tunnel appeared on a preliminary look at possible projects for the CIP in late 2021, with council members hoping at the time to fast-track some projects, including the tunnel.
“We’re already starting to move on some of those things that we’ve already identified, in particular the Adventure Park tunnel,” Mayor Dan Swartwout told ThisWeek at the time.
“The city of Powell maintains a network of bike paths providing valuable connections between city parks and neighborhoods,” White wrote in a memo to council. “The pedestrian tunnel beneath the CSX railroad, located west of Adventure Park, is an important variable of this network.”