Roanoke officials are attempting an end around on a foundry company standing in the way of completion of the Roanoke River Greenway — by going straight through it.
A week ago, Norfolk Southern Railway filed documents to the federal Surface Transportation Board seeking to abandon a half-mile stretch of unused rail line and sell it to the city.
That rail bed passes through the site of Walker Machine & Foundry in the Norwich neighborhood, the company that has refused to sell land to the city for the greenway because its leaders believe the linear park could imperil the company’s environmental permits.
If the abandonment is approved, the city would make a fee simple purchase of it, allowing them to do as they please with the former rail bed.
