Two years ago, Dayton officials celebrated a major win: Their local congressman secured $1.5 million in federal funding to help transform six miles of abandoned and blighted railroad in the heart of the city into a walking and biking trail. The long-haggled-over project, seen as a key to boosting economic development, finally seemed on the brink of becoming a reality.
But since then, Northern Suffolk, the railroad company that owns the track, has more than doubled its asking price for the land, according to city officials. The price hike has forced the city to pull back, leaving the project at an indefinite standstill.
“This has been the most frustrating thing I’ve ever dealt with,” said Chris Shaw, a Dayton city commissioner who’s one of the city’s point people on the project. “It’s just one thing after the other.”
‘Flight line’ would connect downtown with trails
Dayton officials call the project “The Flight Line.” They see it as the catalyst for investment that will connect neighborhoods on the city’s east side to a burgeoning downtown entertainment district that within the past decade has become home to a slew of bars, restaurants and apartments…