NORWICH – Nearly a year and a half after the Chenango County Industrial Development Agency secured a bulk of the funding to restore the defunct Utica Main Line, plans are on track to begin work on the railroad as early as spring, according to the CCIDA.

The railroad became a point of discussion at a regular meeting of the IDA held last week. Despite minor bumps along the way, the IDA hopes to have all necessary paperwork for the $5.9 million project completed by the time weather permits work to start, said Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig.

“We believe at this point we have cleared some regulatory hurdles with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Environmental Conservation,” said Craig, citing major involvement of the two agencies because the Utica Main Line runs adjacent to the Chenango River bed.

Meetings between the CCIDA, the DEC, the Army Corps, and Stone Consulting (the company contracted by the CCIDA to conduct engineering reports) revealed that despite confusion over the way information on the project was being presented, the CCIDA is staying in compliance with state and federal requirements, which means the project may go out to bid by early winter.