Article source for : The Future Of Transportation In Lake Erie West
h2. Southeast Michigan
Join "WWJ Newsradio 950":http://www.wwj.com/The-Future-Of-Transportation-In-Southeast-Michigan/2085706 for a business breakfast titled +The Future Of Transportation In Southeast Michigan+, happening at the "Anderson Theatre at The Henry Ford":http://www.thehenryford.org/privateevents/venues_anderson.aspx on May 15, 2008. This breakfast is an official event of "National Transportation Week":http://www.ntweek.org/.
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":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerotropolis
* Marc Higginbotham, representing Norfolk Southern Corporation, on the "Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal":http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9621_11058_37506---,00.html (DIFT) project
* Dan Deane, President, Nicholson Terminal & Dock, Inc
*Part Two: "Moving People"*
* Paul Tait, Executive Director, "SEMCOG, 2035 Southeast Michigan Transportation Plan":http://www.semcog.org/Long-RangeTransportationPlan.aspx?ekmensel=c580fa7b_58_124_128_3
* John Hertel, CEO, Regional Transit Coordinating Council
* Heather Carmona, Executive Director, Woodward Avenue Action Association
h3. 2006 Erie Township Battle
In 2006, Erie Township residents feared 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":http://www.erieenraged.com/timeline.html of the fight between private property owners and US Rail.
"Facts":http://www.erieenraged.com/facts.html
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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.*
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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*.
I think I read in a 2006 Toledo Free Press story that I cannot find, that 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.
July 2006 : "Monroe City Council Resolution passes resolution to support Erie Township residents":http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=/20060720/aboutus/107200015 :
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Monroe City Council, although acknowledging the importance of commercial and industrial development for the purposes of maintaining a healthy local economy and creating sorely needed industrial jobs to replace jobs being lost by the automotive industry, also strongly opposes the taking of property from residents through the laws of eminent domain ...
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September 2006 : "Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm says she supports Erie residents":http://www.jennifergranholm.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9275
December 2006 : "Erie Township site out of running for rail yard":http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061222/NEWS17/61222018&SearchID=73268238524646 :
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A hotly contested rail terminal that had been proposed for southeastern Monroe County’s Erie Township — between Luna Pier and Erie roads — will not be built there, developers announced yesterday. But Global Partners Ltd. is looking for other sites in Monroe County for a $90 million rail yard that could transfer up to 1 million shipping containers a year from trains to tractor trailers.
Such a rail yard is predicted to fill a $400 million industrial park to be built nearby, said Howard Moss, executive vice president of Great Lakes Development, which is part of Global Partners. Together, the rail yard and industrial park are expected to create 5,000 jobs — most paying $10 to $20 an hour — within 10 years of construction, Mr. Moss said.
Mr. Moss said it was impossible to put a time line on the project until Global Partners has an agreement for land. He declined to say if the group has offers on land. But he reiterated that it will not use eminent domain, as an opposition group has said it fears. Mr. Moss said the rail yard would use new technology that would make it one of the five most efficient such yards in the country. The closest large rail yard to Toledo is in Chicago.
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h4. Supreme Court
2005 Supreme Court case : "Kelo v. City of New London":http://tinyurl.com/ddvkl :
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... involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another to further economic development. The case arose from the condemnation by New London, Connecticut, of privately owned real property so that it could be used as part of a comprehensive redevelopment plan. The Court held in a 5-4 decision that the general benefits a community enjoyed from economic growth qualified such redevelopment plans as a permissible "public use" under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The decision was widely criticized by American politicians and the general public. Many members of the general public viewed the outcome as a gross violation of property rights and as a misinterpretation of the Fifth Amendment, the consequence of which would be to benefit large corporations at the expense of individual homeowners and local communities.
*Ohio*
An attempted use of eminent domain was brought before the Ohio supreme court in _Norwood, Ohio v. Horney_. The Supreme Court of Ohio held in favor of the property owners.
*Michigan*
Michigan passed a restriction on the use of eminent domain in November 2006, Proposition 4, 80% to 20%. The text of the ballot initiative was as follows
A PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO PROHIBIT GOVERNMENT FROM TAKING PRIVATE PROPERTY BY EMINENT DOMAIN FOR CERTAIN PRIVATE PURPOSES The proposed constitutional amendment would:
* Prohibit government from taking private property for transfer to another private individual or business for purposes of economic development or increasing tax revenue.
* Provide that if an individual’s principal residence is taken by government for public use, the individual must be paid at least 125% of property’s fair market value.
* Require government that takes a private property to demonstrate that the taking is for a public use; if taken to eliminate blight, require a higher standard of proof to demonstrate that the taking of that property is for a public use.
* Preserve existing rights of property owners.
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h2. Northwest Ohio
h3. Toledo
More from the December 2006 Toledo Blade "story":http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061222/NEWS17/61222018&SearchID=73268238524646 about Erie Township not getting a rail yard :
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Global Partners Ltd. is looking for other sites in Monroe County for a $90 million rail yard that could transfer up to 1 million shipping containers a year from trains to tractor trailers. Howard Moss [is] executive vice president of Great Lakes Development, which is part of Global Partners.
His partner David Hall, who is president of Great Lakes, said Monroe County is preferable for the project because it would provide access to a *single-line railroad service from the Pacific Ocean via the Canadian National railroad*. Canadian National serves several ports in British Columbia and has a rail line into *Toledo* from the north that ends near a freight yard that parallels I-75, south of Alexis Road.
But Mr. Hall and others had said earlier this year that insufficient land was available near the Canadian National tracks on the Toledo side of the Ohio-Michigan border to build the container-transfer facility there. Locating on any other rail line in metro Toledo would require cargoes to be exchanged from one railroad to another somewhere in their journey from any Pacific port.
The rail networks of *Norfolk Southern* and *CSX Transportation*, the other two major railroads serving the city, go only as far west as Kansas City and St. Louis, respectively, and both perform most of their western exchanges in Chicago.
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h3. Lucas County
April 2008 - Glass City Jungle : " Intermodal aspirations":http://glasscityjungle.com/wordpress/?p=2994 :
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Toledo has had intermodal aspirations for quite some time, the topic is broached along with other items of interest related to economic development this morning on WSPD with "Fred’s interview with Brian McMahon":http://www.wspd.com/pages/fredstop10.html. Plans for a 400 acre intermodal facility is in the works at Toledo Express, that would be adjacent to the turnpike and to rail. As Brian pointed out this has been something that has been discussed for 15 years.
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May 2008 - Glass City Jungle : " More on intermodal, transportation and personal vendettas?":http://glasscityjungle.com/wordpress/?p=3035 :
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Is part of the problem how people are treated by the City? If you listen to a podcast of a phone conversation on WSPD with Fred and Brian McMahon on Friday, Brian McMahon relates an experience where he was invited by the Port Authority to attend a meeting but was told by Mr. Reinbolt that *he was not welcome*, leaving him with the impression that *personal vendettas are getting in the way of economic development.*
As discussed earlier, Toledo has had intermodal aspirations for well over a decade. The problem continues to be that we don’t seem to put any of the dreams into plans and other parts of Northwestern Ohio are. When a potential like this exists:
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According to McMahon, it’s not unreasonable to realize that Northwest Ohio could be looking at 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs within a short period of time. There is more than 4 billon square feet of industrial space within a 300-mile radius of Toledo. What does this mean for companies shipping products through the hub? The fewer hours and days spent in transit time, the more money and time the company saves. “Where else in North America can a business get these kinds of demographics?” asks McMahon. “We have something (in Toledo) no one else has.”
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Apr 20, 2008 - Toledo Blade : "'Other Ohio' falls short on transit panel; 55-member task force has only 2 from Toledo area":http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/NEWS11/804200343
May 4, 2008 - Toledo Blade : "City could benefit if shipping project sails in Nova Scotia":http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080504/NEWS11/805040338
It's too bad that existing industrial property within Toledo could no be reused. Some complain about land usage and sprawl in outlying communities for development projects like housing divisions, malls, and big box stores. An intermodal project is industrial sprawl. Regardless of where an intermodal site lands, prime farmland or natural habitat, such as the Oak Openings Region, will be destroyed.
h3. TMACOG
Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments : [[On the Move 2007-2035 Transportation Plan]]
h4. LEW Global Logistics Hub
From the policies file:
*Freight Goal:* Our region will be a world-class multi-modal freight transportation hub
*Policy 8:* To strengthen our role as a freight transportation hub, our region will work together to *implement Lake Erie West Global Logistics Hub* business plan. This plan comprises four major freight facilities: Toledo Express Global Logistics Park (see Policy 9), Trans-Pacific Inland Port (see Plan Project 1 and Policy 10), Golden Triangle Distribution Corridor, and the Toledo Seaport (see Policy 11). We will identify needed improvements/ resources; support public/private infrastructure investment for the sites, and connectivity between them (on public roads or off-road).
*Policy 9:* A regional priority is to *expand use of the air freight mode and use of air facilities as intermodal hubs.* This will include increasing airport capacity throughout the region and providing good road access. We will develop Toledo Express Airport as a major intermodal hub, to be known as the “Toledo Express Global Logistics Park,” with needed infrastructure improvements (including Plan Projects C-3, 4, 59 and 60) and creation of a “transportation opportunity district.”
*Policy 10:* To expand freight capacity, we will work to *increase use of and multi-modal access to rail freight.* This will include supporting development of a Trans-Pacific Inland Port (see Plan Project 1), a rail/truck container facility designed to capture major freight flows from Asia, for distribution to the Midwest and eastern U.S.
*Policy 11:* Our region has an opportunity to *expand waterborne freight movement*. To do so, we will work to increase rail access to the Toledo Seaport, and we will support maximized use of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes water system.
*Policy 12:* It is essential for our role as a freight hub to *improve road access and capacity for trucks, and reduce modal conflicts.* As part of this policy, we support:
# Making the Ohio Turnpike more truck-friendly with "Easy Pass" electronic toll collection and quantity discounts.
# Increasing the quality of township roads by requiring agri-business to meet same constraints as other industries, that is, eliminating exemptions that allow producers to use township roads without defraying costs of upgrades and maintenance.
# Providing real-time information on road congestion via ITS that is suitable to trucker needs.
h4. UT ITI
Web site: "The University of Toledo Intermodal Transportation Institute":http://www.officeofresearch.utoledo.edu/ITI/ITI.htm
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The purpose of the ITI is to work cooperatively with public and private sector partners in transportation, logistics, and supply chain management to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life. The ITI builds upon the unique features of the region, it offers the potential for sustained external funding, and it is a way to access and assemble resources from various disciplines at UT to address opportunities defined with the help of its public and private sector partners.
The University of Toledo has been designated a National University Transportation Center by the U.S. Department of Transportation. UT will be awarded $2 million over a four-year period to advance significantly state-of-the-art transportation research and expand the work force of transportation professionals. The University, and the UT Intermodal Transportation Institute specifically, will play a regional leadership role in developing improved intermodal supply-chain systems and alternative transportation methods and technologies such as hybrid-electric, fuel cell and bio-diesel technologies.
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From the policies file:
*Research Goal Statement:* Our region will be a center of transportation research and innovation.
*Policy 13:* We need to *diversify fuels* for transportation, to insure fuel will be available on a long-term basis, with reduced dependence on foreign sources. To do so, our region will:
# Support the work of a consortium of area universities to develop and commercialize hybrid vehicles.
# Analyze current state and federal policies to propose changes and/or take advantage of existing policies in order to enhance alternative fuels production and use in our region.
*Policy 14:* With the amount of transported freight expected to double in the next 15 years, we need *innovative ways to move goods more efficiently.* Therefore, it is our region’s policy that:
# Local jurisdictions and planning/development agencies should seek to locate industrial and distribution facilities near existing transportation terminals and interchanges.
# We encourage development of multi-trailer terminals at Ohio Turnpike interchanges.
# We should identify examples of trucking company collaboration on deliveries, and support implementation of such a system.
# We should research ways to improve efficiency of transfer of goods between transportation modes.
*Policy 15:* To build on regional strengths, we need to *support/expand transportation logistics and supply chain research* in the region. This research should include looking at the potential to coordinate transportation to common suppliers/locations.
*Policy 16:* To enhance economic and technical development, our region will work to establish the identity of the *Toledo Science and Technology corridor* and the movement of people and ideas within this corridor.
*Policy 17:* Our region supports creating *innovative traffic systems* to improve traffic flow, such as modern roundabouts (see Policy 19), coordinated signal timing on all major arterials, and freeway management systems and other Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
h3. North Baltimore
May 2, 2008 - Toledo Blade : "Planned CSX terminal is part of national project":http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080502/NEWS11/805020364 :
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*CSX Transportation's* planned rail terminal west of *North Baltimore, Ohio*, is part of a broader "National Gateway" campaign to improve freight transportation between mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest, the railroad announced during a news conference yesterday in Dublin, Ohio.
Of $300 million of its own money CSX has committed to the project, $130 million is to be spent in Ohio, including $80 million for the new North Baltimore terminal and $50 million for expansion of a rail yard in south Columbus. But CSX is seeking public funds, primarily to replace road overpasses that are too low for trains carrying freight containers stacked two-high on flatcars to pass beneath.
Over the past quarter century, so-called "double-stack" trains have become the railroad industry's most efficient means for transporting containerized freight, both in conjunction with ocean ship lines and on routes within North America.
In meeting with local officials to plan for the North Baltimore terminal, CSX officials indicated one of its key purposes would be sorting shipments received at Chicago from railroads serving Pacific ports into new trains bound for points throughout CSX's network. Such shipments today are often unloaded at the western railroads' terminals, trucked across Chicago's congested expressways, then reloaded onto trains at CSX's Chicago yards.
The North Baltimore facility, for which CSX hopes to break ground late this year and plans a 2010 opening, is expected to employ about 100 people and stretch along the north side of State Rt. 18 between Liberty Hi and Range Line roads in southwestern Wood County. Last week, a CSX subsidiary purchased 77 acres in the middle of the site that had been the largest missing piece among an estimated 500 acres to be used for the terminal.
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