Warner Parks Expansion Opening Held Up by Rail Line Dispute

NASHVILLE, TN — To most outside observers, the new section of Edwin Warner Park, on the north side of Highway 100, has appeared ready for visitors for months, yet it remains closed to the public.

The hold-up is a dispute between Metro Parks and railroad company CSX, which owns the tracks between Highway 100 and the new park. Metro needs to cross the tracks — which, the rail company insists on reminding everyone, are still in use — for maintenance and intends to build a tunnel below the tracks to give pedestrians access to the expansion's trails. And there's the rub: CSX and Metro disagree not about who owns the tracks, but who owns the land beneath the tracks.

CSX told WSMV that negotiations with the city are ongoing.

"We are now in discussions with Metro legal department regarding the terms of the agreement for access across the operating rail corridor. We look forward to completing the necessary steps as efficiently as possible to enable this project to move ahead," a spokesman told the station.

The expansion is scheduled to open this month and an attorney with Metro Legal told WSMV he's hopeful an agreement can be forged in the coming weeks. Such an agreement would need to be approved by the Metro Council before any work begins.

CSX has a reputation for being less than receptive to giving up its property rights, even for civic projects; in 2012, after years of mounting neighborhood pressure, CSX finally sacrificed a few feet of its property beneath an underpass for a sidewalk connecting Sylvan Heights and Sylvan Park.