Dunkirk’s Robin Street pedestrian tunnel is one more truckload of trouble for the city. It is filled with trash, a location for drug deals and has its share of graffiti.

Is it any wonder Randy Woodbury wants to close the pedestrian underpass of Norfolk Southern railroad tracks in conjunction with a repaving project on nearby West Third Street? Last week the city’s Department of Public Works director floated the idea at a committee meeting.

“If there has to be a safety fence to keep kids from crossing (the tracks) at grade, we’ll do it,” he said.

Woodbury noted the underpass is a relic from the days when Robin Street residents could cross at-grade railroad tracks at Third Street to reach the lakefront. Planners of the project to elevate the tracks in the 1930s evidently wanted to preserve their direct lakefront access.

At the moment, there appears to be a pair of safety hazards: having the tunnel open and crossing the tracks. One of these can be eliminated through the shuttering of the walkway if the city can get Norfolk Southern on board with the idea.

At the moment, there’s really no good reason to maintain a thoroughfare that is being trashed.