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Inter-modal Terminal - One More Close Look …

Posted by Bob Gernert on August 12, 2008 at 11:42 am

The Central Florida Regional Planning Council will conduct a public hearing on the inter-modal rail terminal planned for south Winter Haven on August 13 beginning at 9 a.m. in the pool side room at the Southwest Complex.

The Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce has made it our business to do a comprehensive assessment of the potential for this project. Our due diligence has included two visits to Alliance, Texas to view first hand the operations of the BNSF Railway Terminal and the related Hillwood Gateway/Alliance Business Park. In May of this year the Chamber led a fact-finding visit of 20 Polk elected officials, government leaders and business interests. That visit included a comprehensive itinerary that reviewed the rail terminal and business park operations as well as visual, noise, traffic and lighting impacts.

Winter Haven, Polk County and Central Florida stand on the threshold of a tremendous economic opportunity.

State Senator Paula Dockery wants it relocated.

If you own a business in Polk County and especially Winter Haven, you owe it to yourself to review the following facts about this project. It will change the economic dynamics of this county and your business. It will provide good jobs and great opportunities for our citizens and our children. We also believe we have the brains, resources and creativity to make it a model distribution hub.

That is why we believe it deserves one more close look …

1. How many employees will be on the CSX site during construction of the inter-modal terminal?

• 800-1000 jobs (estimate)

2. How many employees will work on site when the inter-modal terminal is operational?

• 100-110 depending on the number that relocates from existing Orlando/Tampa facilities for automotive and inter-modal

• This would be among Winter Haven’s mid-sized companies

3. How many trucks will enter and leave the inter-modal facility on an average day?

• 750 – 1000 truck trips on the high side (375 – 500 actual trucks) spread out over a 24 hour period. Traffic will be relative to train schedules which, at present, have not been finalized.

• This is approximately twice as many vehicles as the estimates for the Winter Haven Wal-Mart Distribution Center on Lucerne Park Road

4. How many trains will arrive at the inter-modal terminal on a daily basis?

• The number of trains arriving each day is directly related to the number of “lifts” done in the inter-modal facility. A “lift” is the process of putting a container of consumer product on or off of a railcar carriage. BNSF Railway (Alliance, TX) uses inter-modal trains that are 140 cars long plus power. Those trains haul double-stacked containers. To determine the number of trains per day you take the number of lifts per day divided by 280 containers on each train divided by the number of days the facility will be operational. Every 100,000 lifts require approximately one train per day to transport. If the Winter Haven ILC were to do one-third of Alliance’s annual volume, that would be 200,000 lifts per year or approximately two trains per day 365 days per year. Shorter trains would require more than two per day but actual length for the CSX facility will be dictated by the length of the shortest siding available (for allowing trains to pass) as well as the curve radius on the train route (the sharper the radius the shorter the train that can safely negotiate it). The Winter Haven facility will also receive automobiles. Including those trains, initial rail traffic could average three to four trains per day.

5. How will the terminal operation affect air quality and noise levels.

• Based on findings of extensive computer modeling the combined effect of trucks, cars and locomotives operating at the inter-modal facility will have a negligible impact on local air quality. (Both particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations are predicted to be extremely low.) – Central Florida Regional Planning Council Staff Report and Recommendations, August 2008, Page 97.

• In comparison with City noise limits, facility-related noise levels were not predicted to exceed the allowable daytime (61 dBA) or nighttime (50dBA) noise limits within the Winter Haven Noise Ordinance. The highest predicted facility-related noise level at the residential property line is 42dBA (comparable to the noise created by a dishwater operating in an adjoining room of a residential facility). – Central Florida Regional Planning Council Staff Report and Recommendations, August 2008, Pages 98, 99.

6. What about the concerns of the Lakeland community?

• Winter Haven and Lakeland Chamber officials and other Polk entities have come together with the Tampa Bay Partnership and Central Florida Partnership to address overarching regional issues affecting a super region from Daytona to Tampa. The group has had two meetings and two more have been scheduled for fall. This open and cooperative dialogue has given birth to One Polk – a forum for addressing countywide issues and representing those positions in discussions with our neighbors to the East and West.

7. What is the potential for a business park?

• There is a potential for five million sq. ft. of ancillary development in the future adjacent to the terminal. In addition there will be interest in surrounding development as a result of creating an industrial base – such developers as First Industrial, Liberty Trust, etc. The terminal will provide a high volume lower cost freight transportation solution for a state that will continue to grow into the future. By comparison, the Lakeland Economic Development Council Web site notes there is twenty-six million square feet of industrial/warehouse space currently in the Lakeland area. The LEDC site also notes that Lakeland has absorbed more than 1 million sq. ft. annually since 1987.

8. How many jobs may be associated with the ancillary development?

• Once the terminal is completed and upon completion of the Development of Regional Impact findings, it is estimated than over the next decade up to 2,000 jobs could be created in the surrounding business park. CSX has projected 2,000 direct jobs.

9. What types of companies might locate in the area surrounding the inter-modal terminal.

• Looking to Alliance, Texas for an example, here is a sampling of the companies that center attracted: County Workforce Board, AT&T, Bell Helicopter, Cardinal Health, Coca-Cola, Daimler Chrysler Services, Ford Motor Company, a branch of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Fidelity Investments, Fortuna Pizza Pasta Subs, General Mills, General Motors, Hampton Inn and Suites, The Home Depot, IHOP, Kraft Foods, Manpower, Motorola, Phillips Electronics, Pitney Bowes, Ryder System, Snooty Pig Cafe, Texas Instruments, a US Customs Office and numerous other offices, retail operations and distribution facilities. The dynamics of the Winter Haven site may attract a different mix but similar results could be reasonably expected.

10. What potential tax revenues may be generated by the project.

• The actual experience for Polk County and Florida will depend on our taxing structures and the development that occurs with regard to the inter-modal terminal. Looking to the Alliance Texas experience, that center has generated more than $535 million in taxes over the past sixteen years. While impossible to predict with certainty it seems reasonable to believe that an ILC one third the size of Alliance would produce significant tax revenues over time.

We believe this project of Evansville Western Railway, an affiliate of CSX Transportation, holds great potential for your business growth and success.

Take a moment and let Senator Dockery know you want it built where it is currently planned. You can send her an email: Senator Paula Dockery

While you are at it you can thank Senator J. D. Alexander for his support of the project by sending an email here: Senator J. D. Alexandar

See other entries filed in: CSX - Winter Haven, City of Winter Haven, Commercial Developments, Economic Development, Success Stories, Transportation