Toledo Talk "The Future Of Transportation In Lake Erie West" id 15805

Southeast Michigan

Join WWJ Newsradio 950 for a business breakfast titled The Future Of Transportation In Southeast Michigan, happening at the Anderson Theatre at The Henry Ford on May 15, 2008. This breakfast is an official event of National Transportation Week.

This two panel conference, moderated by WWJ's Murray Feldman, will discuss Detroit's future in moving freight and moving people. How can Detroit's existing infrastructure be leveraged to drive economic growth for the region? How do plans for the Aerotropolis, the Port of Detroit - our under-rated/under-valued resource, customs and borders play a role in Detroit's transportation future?

Part One: "Moving Freight"

Robert Ficano, Wayne County Executive, on the Aerotropolis Concept

Marc Higginbotham, representing Norfolk Southern Corporation, on the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal (DIFT) project

Dan Deane, President, Nicholson Terminal & Dock, Inc

Part Two: "Moving People"

Paul Tait, Executive Director, SEMCOG, 2035 Southeast Michigan Transportation Plan

John Hertel, CEO, Regional Transit Coordinating Council

Heather Carmona, Executive Director, Woodward Avenue Action Association

2006 Erie Township Battle

In 2006, US Rail wanted to use eminent domain to seize private property for private development. The residents won the fight.

http://www.erieenraged.com - Erie Neighbors & Residents Against Eminent Domain

Timeline of the fight between private property owners and US Rail.

US Rail, a short-line railroad operator chartered in Michigan, with offices in Sylvania, OH, is proposing to construct an intermodal rail yard in Erie Township, MI. This intermodal rail yard would be used as a hub where freight containers from Asia would be transferred between trucks and trains, with a direct railroad line access extending to the pacific coast across Canada. Plans for the rail yard proposal require Erie residents to sell their land or they will be forced through eminent domain.

Some other facts from that failed attempt to steal private property :

400 acres of fertile farmland will disappear.

42 home & landowners will be forced from their land.

Several historic farms will cease to exist. One of these farms has been in the family before Michigan became a state.

Railroads do not pay taxes.

Loss of millions of dollars of tax base from current landowners.

The proposal anticipates 700 NON-union jobs. The job counts starts when the container hits the ground in Canada.

US Rail intentionally mislead the public on the number of jobs that would be created in Erie Township by the intermodal project.

I believe in a 2006 Toledo Free Press story that I cannot find, one of the Toledo area groups like the Port Authority or the Regional Growth Partnership supported the Erie Township intermodal project, which means this Toledo area group indirectly supports the seizing of private property for private development.