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."