BANGOR – A Penobscot County Superior Court justice has upheld the use of a disputed railroad crossing considered key to local efforts to transform the city’s historic but crumbling Waterworks complex into affordable housing for low-income adults.

At issue was a railroad crossing along State Street that would allow vehicular and pedestrian access to the city-owned Bangor Waterworks site, the subject of a $6 million redevelopment plan that would convert the complex of brick structures into 35 rent-subsidized efficiency units for low-income adults.

Maine Central Railroad filed a petition last fall in Penobscot County Superior Court asking the court to reverse the state Department of Transportation’s June 2003 approval of the crossing, citing safety concerns. The railroad also argued that:

. The proposed crossing “is not for a sufficiently public use,” and that the DOT decision did not provide just compensation and, as such, was an unconstitutional taking.

. The DOT exceeded its legal authority because the authority it relies on did not provide it the power of eminent domain, making its decision an illegal and improper taking.

Justice Andrew Mead heard oral arguments regarding the case March 3.

Shaw House Development Inc., project developer, is in the process of acquiring the State Street property, which has been vacant since the 1970s. Shaw House Development Inc. is a for-profit subsidiary of Shaw House Inc., the nonprofit group that owns a shelter for homeless teens on Union Street.

While project proponents won this round, their legal battle with Maine Central might not be over, Bouchard noted. The railroad has 21 days in which to appeal Mead’s decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, if it so chooses.

The railroad’s plans remained unclear Monday. Attempts to elicit comment from Maine Central’s parent company, Guilford Rail System in North Billerica, Mass., were unsuccessful Monday.

Mead’s decision, issued late Friday, was welcome news for project director Doug Bouchard of Shaw House Development Inc.

“This thing has survived another winter,” albeit a mild one, Bouchard said. Without reinforcement, Bouchard is worried that the Waterworks won’t withstand another winter, given its rapidly deteriorating condition.

Bouchard has been leading a project team consisting of representatives from Shaw House, the city of Bangor, the Maine State Housing Authority, general contractor Nickerson and O’Day Inc. of Brewer, WBRC Architects-Engineers of Bangor and Bangor Savings Bank.

“They deserve a great deal of credit, Bouchard said of the project partners. “They’ve all been on board all along. No one has blinked.”

T.J. Martzial, the city’s housing program manager, has been working with Shaw House Development to advance the project. He said the need for affordable housing is even greater now than it was when the project was unveiled more than a year ago.

As things stand, he said, the city’s affordable housing vacancy rate stands at 2 percent, which he noted is “extremely low.” In typical years, the rate ranges from 5 to 10 percent.

Martzial is taking a wait-and-see approach to the railroad’s next move: “I’ve moved some things from the back burner to the front burner, but I haven’t turned on the heat.”