SALEM The Ohio Rail Development Commission has approved a grant of up to $7.7 million for Columbiana County and the City of Salem to eliminate a busy street-level train crossing with a history of serious incidents.

The funding is designated to replace the existing Lincoln Avenue at-grade crossing near the Fresh Mark plant with an overpass or underpass, a change known as a grade separation.

The project is driven by safety concerns at the location. Federal Railroad Administration data shows that the crossing has been the site of three reported incidents since 2015, resulting in two fatalities and one injury. Both fatal incidents involved pedestrians in 2015 and 2021. The injury occurred in October 2024 when a motor vehicle was struck by a train.

In addition to the federally tracked inci

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