CSX Confirms Nov. 17 for Next Workshop on Train-Truck Project in Elkridge

The next time transportation officials will meet with Elkridge about the proposed intermodal facility is Nov. 17, according to CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan.

In a  at , CSX and Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) will update the public on the train-truck project that has sparked controversy around Elkridge .

Called an "intermodal facility," the proposed operation would enable freight trains on the CSX rails to carry double-stacked shipping containers, interchangable between trains and trucks via electric cranes.

CSX and MDOT are evaluating four sites for the facility, which is slated to open by 2015:

• Hanover/Race Road (Howard County)
• Montevideo/Dorsey Road (Howard County)
• Brock Bridge Road (Anne Arundel County)
• Beltsville (Prince George’s County)

Elkridge residents who live near the Hanover/Race Road location have railed against the idea of having the facility in their neighborhood, arguing that it would , harm their health, and when other options are available.

At  on the issue, on April 27, residents wore red as a sign of their solidarity against the intermodal facility in their neighborhood. They also planted protest signs from Montgomery Road to the entryway of .

Over the summer, transportation officials sent an e-mail stating that the second round of workshops would be in early fall.

“We are currently planning a second round of public workshops for late September or early October,” said the July 28 e-mail, sent to an intermodal listserv.

The workshops were pushed back “to allow for some work to be completed,” said Sullivan in an e-mail to Elkridge Patch.

Get .

According to the MDOT/CSX listserv: "The workshops are intended to provide an overall project update and allow the public to review and comment on environmental information that has been collected to date at each of the four candidate sites.”