O'Brien Steel Expansion Update (Updated)

Tazewell & Peoria Railroad mainline looking north from Caroline Street on March 22, 2026. Planned steel storage building and new rail siding will be at right. O'Brien Steel Service Co's existing facilities are at right. 

We now have more information about O'Brien Steel Service Co's expansion plans into Detweiller Marina. 

WMBD TV-31 covered it earlier this month when plans were revealed at a Peoria Park District meeting. The TV station posted an update on its website yesterday after the Sierra Club hosted a meeting with community leaders. The article includes a photo of the plan, and confirms that a new rail siding will be built from the adjacent Tazewell & Peoria Railroad mainline to serve a relocated existing crane system and steel storage area. It isn't clear, however, if this will be enclosed or open. Based on the map, it could be either way. 

Unfortunately, controversy appears to be the sole reason for media coverage, and only by one outlet. The Peoria Journal Star hasn't mentioned it, and neither has WEEK TV-25.

Local environmentalists are upset by the loss of green space and easy access to the Illinois River that Detweiller Marina provides, and that the expansion requires relocation of the existing "Rock Island Greenway" trail. O'Brien Steel plans to purchase most of the property before the end of the month. 

WMBD appears to side with the environmentalists against O'Brien Steel's plans. Take the headline -  The effort to stop O'Brien Steel's purchase of Detweiller Marina. Did they even attempt to contact O'Brien Steel?

But that is no excuse. Local media tends to ignore stories unless there is controversy, and pertinent details are ignored that can be discovered without talking to the steel company itself. At least the map accompanying the article properly labels the new rail siding that will serve the planned steel storage area. 

There is more. Back in 2023, in a story completely ignored by the local media, the City of Peoria divested (or received regulatory approval to divest) of the mile or so of unused railroad from a connection with the Tazewell & Peoria Railroad near Spring Street northwest across NE Adams, Cornhill, NE Jefferson and Abington to Park Avenue was abandoned. A 550-foot section at the south end was sold or transferred to O'Brien Steel Service Co. The steel company wanted to get rail service again when the petition before the Surface Transportation Board was filed in February 2023. 

After the transfer to O'Brien Steel, probably in June 2023, it appeared as if work to bring the trackage back in operation was commencing quickly. Some mud and dirt had been dug out from between rails on the steel company's property. Unfortunately, little actual work was done, and the mud and dirt was smooth out again by December that year.  

I can only speculate, but it appears O'Brien Steel studied the situation and decided to relocate its steel storage yard and crane system instead. Perhaps the 550-foot private rail spur will be retained and rehabilitated for scrap metal loading? 

The controversy is ironic because in 2004, O'Brien Steel's then-owner contributed $175,000 to complete a rail extension from the former Union Pacific Pioneer Industrial Lead across University Street to the Kellar Branch in a scheme to "reconfigure" but retain rail access to the city's northwest side industrial park. Chairman Joseph O'Brien was praised for his contribution by those who coveted the Kellar Branch for trail conversion. Now those same folks are trying to block his company's expansion plans through purely emotional pleas. 

Detweiller Marina has been dilapidated for years. The trail will take a modified path. If O'Brien Steel wants this property then it should have it. 

UPDATE: March 25, 2026 - WEEK TV-25 posted a good article this morning with input from both Detweiller and O'Brien Steel. An outside storage area is planned, and no building will be built.

- David P. Jordan