Plant City Wants Another Opinion On Rail Hub's Effect

PLANT CITY - Despite assurances by CSX Transportation that its proposed Winter Haven rail hub will reduce Plant City's train traffic, commissioners want an independent opinion.

"It's probably going to take three trains out of here, on average," the railroad's Polk County operations director told Plant City commissioners during a workshop that began at 6 p.m. Monday. "You're sitting here with a net loss of some trains," Ron Morrow said.

Half joking, Commissioner Robert Brown asked whether one of the daily trains to be eliminated "could be the one that comes through here at 3 in the morning." Two dozen CSX freight trains go through Plant City daily.

Detailing the company's struggles over the decades, Morrow said today's trains have emerged as the least expensive, most fuel-efficient way to move large quantities of freight.

For more than four years, the Jacksonville-based railroad has been seeking a suitable site for a new "intermodal terminal." An agreement between Florida and CSX officials has accelerated that move.

That $491 million deal is intended to provide the state Department of Transportation 61 miles of CSX track in the Orlando area for commuter rail while helping the company expand freight operations with the new hub, about seven miles south of downtown Winter Haven.

Most of Morrow's 45-minute presentation centered on plans for the terminal and its economic advantages for Winter Haven. Commissioners wanted to know more about effects on Plant City.

"I'm more concerned about the trucks leaving the yard than the trains coming in," said Commissioner Bill Dodson, questioning whether the facility would generate additional tractor-trailer traffic through Plant City.

"It's clear we already have a capacity issue" on Interstate 4 through the city, Dodson told Morrow.

Morrow said the "the great majority" of trucks hauling the company's intermodal freight and automobiles already are on the highway. "The direct impact is in Winter Haven," Morrow said.

During the commission meeting after the hourlong workshop, City Manager David Sollenberger urged further study.

"I think we need to get some kind of independent evaluation of how Plant City will be affected," he said, recommending the Federal Railroad Administration be asked to include Plant City in its impact study of the Polk County terminal.

The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization also thinks the railroad administration study will amount to an independent review, Sollenberger added.

Commissioners agreed. "I think it's very important we have an independent view of what to expect," Dodson said.