Lakeland Rumors

There is a rumor floating around that CSX and the City of Lakeland have had closed door meetings discussing the possibility of bringing commuter rail to Lakeland. To appease Lakeland's opposition to the rail hub project, CSX has gone back to the drawing board on the issue of allowing commuter rail on it's tracks. There has even been talk of a tunnel to ease traffic woes. Hopefully this is only idle rumor and water cooler chit chat.

Intermodal Will Be Felt

This link was emailed to me and provide insight into the way railroads all seem to work. http://www.kccommunitynews.com/articles/2007/10/11/olathe_sun/opinion/a-all-opi-sigman.column11.txt

A Good Neighbor?

This article reminds me of Polk County and our own CSX woes. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/21/de_railed/

Port Manatee Part II - In Your Backyard!

Paragraph II speaks volumes! Port hopes rail brings growth By BRIAN NEILL bneill@bradenton.com MANATEE -- Port hopes rail brings growth: Proposed Winter Haven CSX terminal first facility of its kind east of the Mississippi River Port Manatee officials are excited about a proposed CSX railroad terminal in Winter Haven that would improve the flow of container shipments throughout the state and to other parts of the country. "It's one more important tool that we have to market the port," said Steve Tyndal, Port Manatee's senior director of trade development and special projects. "If a shipper in Asia knows that a sophisticated intermodal facility like the one proposed for Winter Haven is only an hour away, that means we could more easily sell Port Manatee as a port of entry." The projected $100 million facility would off-load containers from trains for placement on trucks headed to distribution centers, said Richard Hood, assistant vice president of CSX Real Property. It will be located on 1,250 acres with two miles of rail frontage, according to Hood, who said it is the first development of its kind east of the Mississippi. "Primarily at the beginning it will feed the consumer demand of the state of Florida for goods coming from the West Coast ports," Hood said. "As the growth of the Southeast ports happens, like at Port Manatee, Tampa and Jacksonville, there's an opportunity to feed this as a distribution point for goods to the Midwest and the northern part of the country. If something comes in to the Port of Manatee and the destination is Ohio or Indianapolis, the containers could be sent to those destinations and beyond." The entire facility, which still must clear regulatory hurdles, is projected to take 10 years to complete, but the first phase of the terminal could be finished by the end of 2009, Hood said. CSX estimates the terminal could create 8,500 jobs at the facility and surrounding warehouses, as well as filling stations, restaurants and other businesses that could crop up as a result of the development, Hood said. Normally, approval of such projects is a lengthy process but the state is anxious to expedite the process in order to convert an existing CSX freight hub in south Orlando to commuter use, Hood said. The proposed intermodal terminal has not been without its critics, who have voiced concern about additional truck traffic the facility would bring to Winter Haven in Polk County. But Hood maintains the terminal would go a long way toward reducing overall truck traffic in the state. He said a train carrying containers could easily take the place of 280 trucks hauling containerized cargo. "As long as the population continues to grow in Florida and the consumer demand for buying things exists, we need to solve the transportation problems of the state," Hood said. "We've got to find a way to get those goods to the state without putting all those trucks on the highway." Tyndal, of Port Manatee, said the announcement of the project comes at a crucial time as the Panama Canal is being widened, which will lead to more container shipments to and from the Gulf Coast. Port Manatee recently announced the purchase of a container crane for off-loading the metal boxes full of cargo from ships and is in the process of widening a berth capable of accepting larger container vessels. "Port Manatee is already well served by CSX but the new facility in Winter Haven will help drive capacity, specifically for containerized cargo," Tyndal said. "And that's important because the Panama Canal is expanding and the port is taking a proactive measure now to be ready for when that happens."

Port Manatee Wants to Expand!

And where will all this new freight come? Read part II for the answer! Port Manatee gears up for Panama Canal traffic Posted by PanamaArticles 29 days ago (http://www.panama-guide.com) View profile Category: Panama Articles Tags: canal expansion By MICHAEL POLLICK for the Herald Tribune - PORT MANATEE -- While the Panama Canal gets gouged out into a four-lane superhighway for ships, Port Manatee -- the closest U.S. deep-water port to the canal -- is doing some souping up of its own. The port is in the midst of an expansion, aided by a fresh $3 million state grant, that will allow it to handle hundreds of thousands of semitrailer-sized containers of cargo per year. That compares with just a few thousand each year right now. Meanwhile, the monumental expansion taking place at the canal should be done by 2014 and is expected to prompt global shifts in shipping patterns. (more) The largest container ships afloat, when headed for the United States from Asia, now unload their goods on the West Coast. Goods that are headed for East Coast markets must then travel by rail across the United States.Because the Panama Canal will be able to handle these ships starting a few years from now, it will mean that eastern U.S. ports, and those on the Gulf of Mexico, will be able to host direct shipments to and from Asia much more easily."All this effort to expand the port is due in large part to the efforts to expand the canal," said Steve Tyndal, director of trade development and special projects at the 1,100-acre Manatee County complex."We are closest to the canal. We have the opportunity to grow our facilities. We are at the nexus of major highways and railroads, and we are at the epicenter of the west coast Florida growth activities," Tyndal said. "You are looking at the genesis of the perfect storm."Port Manatee handled an impressive 9.3 million tons of cargo last year, but little of it was in containers, Tyndal said.The port is ahead of schedule on completing its master plan, which involves a vast expansion of its ability to handle containers -- the size of a semitrailer and easily attached to a wheel chassis to move on the highway once a ship brings them into a port.Already, Port Manatee has moved and enlarged its ship turning basin, so that instead of being limited to ships of 800 feet in length, it can now turn those 1,000 feet long. The port also is roughly halfway through a related project that gives it a half-mile of new deep-water berthing.The "Berth 12" project, as it is called, should be completed in 2008. After that, the port turns to a landside buildout of warehouses and lay-down yards for moving the containers onto and off ships, Tyndal said.Meanwhile, under a partnership with Logistec U.S.A., a division of a Canadian stevedoring company, the port should soon get the use of a $4 million mobile harbor crane, designed to speedily load and unload containerized cargo.In perhaps two to three years, after the port completes its present expansion program, it will be able to make quantum leaps in the amount of container cargo it handles."We are very confident that we could move 300,000 to 600,000 containers a year through Port Manatee," Tyndal said.On Monday, the Florida Ports Council told the Herald-Tribune that Port Manatee will receive nearly $3 million in state matching grants this year, to help the port complete its ambitious program. The port's share comes from $65 million in state matching grant money doled out by the Legislature this year.Lawmakers had two funds to disburse this year for port projects -- a $15 million annual port improvement fund and a one-time $50 million program.Because Port Manatee's project, building a new berth, already was under way and because the port needed its funding quickly, the Florida Ports Council shuffled the funding requests from the state's 14 ports to accommodate Manatee, said Nancy Keikauf, executive vice president of the Florida Ports Council. Discuss Add this link to... Tell a friend Bury Add to: Bookmarks

Questions About Rail, County, and FDOT

I've provided a link about the preappliation meeting in Winter Haven at Nora Mayo Hall for the CSX project. http://www.theledger.com/article/20071016/NEWS/710160382/1338/NEWS00 There are a few points lacking in the story, which I intend to follow up on with due diligence. No one seems to have pointed out the fact that CSX had a different company purchase the property. Is this a blatant attempt to circumvent the pending lawsuit? If we're asking ourselves is this good for our region, then this type of open side stepping of the laws at the expense of residents would surely be a clue. If not for this reason, then why? Next, Sue Nelson, alternate for the Polk Planning Commission raised very valid questions at the end of the meeting and no one seems to be looking into those. She said she had emails showing county employees and FDOT employees trying to hide the rail yard and impacts from the citizens of Polk. As soon as we have obtained the emails, we will post them here.

Tampa Tribune Points The Finger

Front page of the Tampa Tribune today pointed out what many of us have been saying and scratching our heads over "CSX Seeking Public Aid Amid It's Growing Profit". My question is how can a company so blatantly get away with what amounts to raiding the state coffers and no one notice or seem to care? Will the politicians at least answer this one for me? Or are they even willing to admit there is a problem to be seen? http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/oct/11/na-csx-seeking-public-aid-amid-its-growing-profit/

Another Derailment!!!

Another derailment happened with a CSX train. No one was injured, but they could have been. Read down the posts at the bottom of the screen to the third from the bottom. It seems even CSXs employees think the only important thing to CSX is profit. http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/10/train_wrecks_in_painesville.html Is this what Polk really needs? Why should citizens of Polk take on Orlando's problems and risks?

Orlando's Needs Over Polk's

In looking at past articles, this one stood out. It seems the needs of Orlando and CSX are what is best for the state. CSX gets a new rail yard and Orlando gets rid of the traffic and semi truck problems and headaches. Polk citizens get these issues, decreased services for our taxes and the shaft!!! http://www.theledger.com/article/20071005/REPORTER/710040393 Write your senator and congressman today! Tell them not in our backyard!

Meeting at Traditions

It's been reported to me that there was a CSX informational meeting at the Traditons clubhouse in Winter Haven to homeowners. One of the homeowners arranged to have David Dickey with the City of Winter Haven there, along with Wally Krouson of Lake Ashton, who opposes the ILC site. I was not invited, but have been told it was a rather low key session with relatively few questions asked. I did hear that David Dickey left right after his presentation and did not stay for Wally Krouson's. The homeowner who had invited them was rather upset at what she thought was rudeness on Dickey's part. Also four homeowners left at the same time, one stating that he owned stock in CSX and didn't care what they did, as long as he earned money. De De Chavuzzi also answered questions at the end. The meeting ended around 10pm.

CSX Comes To Wahneta

Tuesday evening CSX officials came to Wahneta in an attempt to educate the community about the intermodal site coming to the area. There were about 100 people there. It was met with mixed reviews. Some pushed for it because of more jobs coming to the area. That cooled off when CSX said that most of those jobs would be here by 2020. Some complained because the signs went out so late and there weren't any hand outs to take home. One man asked about the 1450 semi trucks a day he had heard would be going by his house. Rick Hood of CSX assured him there would not be 1450 semi trucks a day. Hood did finally publically admit there would be 1000 semi trucks a day! That is the first time CSX has admitted that! Before we were always told 350, then 700. Wow, what a change! That is still 41 - 42 trucks an hour! Then Hood said the trucks would be going to Hwy 60, not by his house. The man had to show CSX where his house was next to the new road! How many lives are being disrupted and have fell through the cracks like this man?

Look Out Indiana, Here Comes CSX

It seems like the people of Indiana have issues with a CSX rail hub in their town. And just like Polk's people, they feel the local government is withholding information from them. Sound all too familiar? http://cms.ibj.com/ASPXPages/6iframes/FrontEndArticlesDetailPage.aspx?ArticleID=04905&NoFrame=1