State Official Says Intermodal Facility Going to Baltimore

The Baltimore-Washington Rail Intermodal Facility has found a location in Baltimore City, according to Delegate Tawanna Gaines, a Democrat serving Prince George's County.

Gaines alerted the County Council in Prince George's to the information on Monday, .

Beltsville was one of four sites being considered for the freight station, which is called an  because it facilitates cargo transfers between trucks and trains.

Other candidate sites for the facility were in Hanover on Race Road and in Jessup on Montevideo and Brock Bridge roads. In each area, residents voiced concerns about , and .

CSX and the state have been evaluating those sites since March 2011, in accordance with a federal process for environmental issues, and from any.

"There has been no change in the status of the environmental review process for the original intermodal facility. All four potential sites continue to be evaluated," said Jack Cahalan, spokesman for Maryland Department of Transportation.

He did say that the state and CSX were not limited to those sites.

"...separate from this federally-mandated site evaluation process, 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. Those discussions are ongoing."

The office of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who has been , issued the following statement Tuesday to Patch:

"Tomorrow, four large cranes are arriving in the Port of Baltimore, and will be used to move cargo off the large ships traveling through the widened Panama Canal. The arrival of these cranes is a reminder that we need to take the steps to ensure that more cargo can be efficiently transported to and from the Port of Baltimore in a way that makes economic sense for shippers and keeps Baltimore relevant in the 21st-century global economy.

"Mayor Rawlings-Blake looks forward to continuing discussions with CSX about the possibility of locating the facility in Baltimore to strengthen our port for the future and to attract and retain jobs in the City."

At the May meeting of the Greater Elkridge Community Association, Senator Ed Kasemeyer (D-Howard/Baltimore) that the intermodal facility would be built in Baltimore.