Residents Settling Back Into Homes After 26th Street Collapse
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The weeks of living in hotels are over for most of the residents of the 26th Street collapse. As they continue moving back in, the mayor gave an update on all the progress.
Monique Griego has the latest.
The city says everyone should be moved back into their home by the end of this weekend. As far as fixing the street, that's still going to take some time.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is checking on the progress of residents returning to their homes on 26th Street.
"We've certainly made a lot of progress and I'm pleased that we were a little ahead of schedule getting the residents back in their homes," said Rawlings-Blake.
It's been a little more than five weeks since a retaining wall gave way and 26th Street in Charles Village collapsed to the ground.
The mayor met with homeowners, who, for weeks, were living in hotels and are now trying to get things back to normal.
Neighbors were able to start moving back in on Thursday. That's when WJZ spoke with 75-year-old Jim Zitzer.
"Six weeks is a long time. We packed up everything, took it up there, had to bring it all back again," Zitzer said.
As he, his wife and their pets get settled in, outside, construction continues. City leaders say it's going to take five or six months to finish all the repairs.
As far as the $18.6 million price tag, the city and CSX, whose tracks the street fell on, still have to divvy up who's covering what.
"Still reviewing what caused the slide. And in that work, we're also preparing for the negotiations with CSX," the mayor said.
The mayor has previously said the property lines in this area are around 100 years old, so that's also taking some time to figure out exactly what the city is responsible for.
Residents who needed a place to stay were put up in hotels until their homes were move-in ready.
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