POLL: Is CSX Done with Elkridge?
With speculation swirling, we want to know what you think.
Videos
A state delegate representing Prince George's County said this week that CSX plans to put its intermodal facility in Baltimore City. Last month, Sen. Ed Kasemeyer (D-Howard) gave constituents the same message.
The railroad company is studying four sites for its project, which is billed as a train-truck depot essential for handling the influx of freight in 2015 with the widening of the Panama Canal.
The federal agency sponsoring the project said that the two sites in Jessup, one in Hanover and another in Beltsville are still being studied in accordance with an environmental review process that could take years.
Maryland Department of Transportation said the studies would be complete by the end of this year. It has partnered with CSX in building the facility, which it says is essential to keeping the state competitive commercially.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Baltimore City has been trying to steer the project into her jurisdiction.
"It’s clear that this process has stalled—threatening one of Baltimore’s strongest pillars of economic growth and job creation," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake wrote in an recent letter to the railroad company's CEO. "Toward that end, I am urging CSX...to identify an appropriate site for the new Intermodal Facility in the City of Baltimore."
Bernie Trenary
6:45 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Who knows! Why all the secrecy? I won't believe ANYTHING 'til construction begins WHEREVER that may be!
Kim Dixon
7:10 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Thats right, don't believe anything you see. Corruption in Maryland is higher then most states.
edb
7:43 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Everyone needs to remember that CSX purchased SOME property on Race Rd....what will their intentions be for that land that they own??
Mr. Drew
8:24 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
I think they are probably done, but they are going to set it aside for awhile and see in a few years if they can revive it. They will let the NEPA process play out and see if they can get the Hanover site or one of the other sites approved. The Baltimore site they are talking about will be an interim stopgap, because it's not very big. There is a business opportunity for them to move containers between mid-Atlantic customers and their double-stack dockside terminal in Portsmouth, VA. I suspect CSX is looking at this on a 10 year time frame now.
LF
9:12 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
They will wait until people stop paying attention. This was delayed because a lot of people worked very, very hard to protect the community. When the community becomes apathetic, they will return. And they will do as they please.
Tammy
9:18 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Fingers crossed that they are done with Elkridge as a site... but seeing is believing and until construction begins none of us will know for sure!
Dave A.
10:34 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
I can not figure some folks out. They own the property and it is in a comercial area. People bought homes that back up to a railroad that is active (some close enough to hit a train with a rock from their back decks) and now you complain about the intermodal.
The Rt. 1 corridor is, and pretty much always has been a mix of industrial/comercial and some residential lands. Guess what, It always will be. Builders bought some land years ago and were successful in rezoning it to residential and your homes where built there. Didn't you drive around before you bought?
And those that have lived here your most, if not all of your lives, it was like this on a smaller scale when you moved in so why are you complaining now.
CSX if you want to build it here I say who cares. I don't. I was smart enough to stay away from the railroad area when I bought and I feel no pity for anyone. The only wish I have for this Intermodal is restrict traffic to the Coca Cola Drive/Rt 100 areas and keep the trucks off of Hanover and Race Roads!
LF
10:41 am on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Suggest you take a look at the link Patch has provided that shows an intermodal facility. This is a huge expansion on what the neighborhood accepted when they bought. You may have purchased somewhere else, but if they can do something this bad to one residential neighborhood, they can do it in any residential neighborhood. You think you're safe today. What if they decide to put a land-fill behind your house? The intermodal will impact the entire Elkridge area, not just the people in the immediate neighborhood.
Tess McKinney
12:00 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Placing an intermodal in Howard County wil have an effect not just on the immediate area but all of Howard County. If I was looking to buy a home and recognize that the county did nothing to stop the creation of an industrial situation that would place community members at risk for pollution and cancer, I would seriously weigh that against purchasing a home in that county. There are many situations where industrial and communities can be adjacent harmoniously. A polluting, noise making, 24 hour operating intermodal is not one of them. Dave, when the wind blows the pollution may come and settle your way too!
Bernie Trenary
1:13 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Well aren't YOU the cat's meow, Dave! Shame on us ALL for buying on the WRONG SIDE of the tracks (literally!). If I didn't know better (which I DON'T!), I'd SWEAR you were in cahoots with a certain commercial realtor who has disappeared off of the face of The Patch! And, to answer your question: WE CARE!
Dean Smith
3:15 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
I can definitely understand what Tess stated. As someone who lives near Arundel Mills Mall and was surprised someone not only decided to put a slots parlor at the mall but to also have the Arundel County Executive and most of the county citizens to approve putting it there, I concluded that if I can sell my house and purchase another one, it will definitely not be located in Anne Arundel County.
LF
3:31 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012
Dean: I voted against the slots at Arundel Mills for this very reason. If they can do it to you, they can do it to me. This type of activity does not belong in residential communities.
Concerned Elkridgean
9:04 am on Sunday, June 24, 2012
Dean and LF: I live in Howard County 10 minutes from the Mall and did not get to vote on the slots because I was not in Anne Arundel County. I was and am totally against it. It affects our county as well. And the retired people who they brought from Annapolis up to lobby at the mall for the slots did not care. It was not in their neighborhood! I don't think people within a certain radius should have got to vote on it, but that is another issue with our government. I have a friend who bought right behind the Safeway and is not very pleased!
Concerned Elkridgean
9:13 am on Sunday, June 24, 2012
As far as the Intermodal, I don't think they are done with Elkridge. I agree with Mr. Drew, if I remember correctly, CSX can extend their contract with Seagirt Marine terminal for another 5 years until around 2018. If they have a temporary solution, I think that they will go for it until the community calms down. Hopefully, in the next ten years they will rezone Race Road to be more conducive to the residential. Also, even if they built an asphalt plant on the 10 acres, CSX will still have enough land to build and intermodal site. Question for all... CSX could build more that one intermodal sites only smaller. What do you think? Would it be economically feasible for them?
Robyn Winder
9:27 am on Sunday, June 24, 2012
I'd say watch what happens with the NEPA process. If it goes forward into the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) phase with the Race Road site still on the list and under consideration, especially if it is the "preferred alternative," then I suspect CSX will be back. The Baltimore site may only be an interim solution with CSX still in the hunt for a bigger intermodal site.
Barry Mayer
11:05 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012
CSX is not done with Elkridge until it's finally decided, signed, sealed and delivered. It's not over until it's over.
Doug K
11:33 pm on Monday, June 25, 2012
I don't think you are asking the right question -- "Is CSX done with Elkridge?" is a different question than "will they put the Intermodal in Baltimore?" Remember the intermodal was always about two distinct things:
1. Helping the Port by turning the single stacked trains into double stacked trains as close to the Port as possible.
2. Helping CSX's domestic rail business by allowing a truck to train transfer facility somewhere between Baltimore and Washington. This would be to allow those containers shipped over CSX to be driven right to the Walmarts and Home Depots in the Baltimore-Washington Area. Don't forget they kept telling us that 90% of the volume was to be domestic in origin (i.e., unrelated to the ports).
So what is going in Baltimore -- according to your article: "CSX and the City of Baltimore have been in discussions regarding a potential facility development, which would be smaller and operate differently than initially proposed."
Baltimore cares about the Ports and for that is well-situated. It is not well-situated for the local container distribution. The TIGER grant ($75 million Federal Grant) is to support the ports as well. So they will build the double stacking facility in Baltimore. My belief is CSX would then look to Elkridge to build the Truck-Train transfer facility without the NEPA process being an issue.
Semper Vigilans -- this isn't over yet!