Metro Jacksonville

Per the Times-Union:

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-12-11/story/jaxport-agrees-purchase-land-spot-switch-cargo-between-ships-and-trains (http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-12-11/story/jaxport-agrees-purchase-land-spot-switch-cargo-between-ships-and-trains)

The Jacksonville Port Authority agreed Tuesday to pay a premium price of $2 million for 2.4 acres needed for a planned railroad yard where cargo containers will be switched between ships and trains.
JaxPort is buying the parcel from a larger 37-acre tract that has a total market value of $7.55 million for land and $3.84 million of building improvements, according to the Duval County Property Appraiser’s Office. The building formerly housed the CertainTeed Gypsum wallboard manufacturing plant, shuttered in 2008.
Acquiring the land completes the property JaxPort needs for construction of an intermodal container transfer facility. Officials say the railroad yard, just east of the Dames Point bridge on the north side of the St. Johns River, will attract more cargo for markets across the Southeast.
JaxPort will purchase the 2.4 acres in a contract with St. Johns Jacksonville LLC and Dames Point Development LLC. The sellers agreed to spend an estimated $30,000 to demolish an office building, part of a warehouse, and a guardshack on the property. The sellers also will relocate utility lines. In turn, JaxPort will build a rerouted Dames Point Road and extend a railroad spur to serve the rest of the property.
JaxPort spokeswoman Nancy Rubin said the property makes it possible to take advantage of the $10 million in federal grants and $20 million in state money for building the railroad yard.
“That’s the reason for purchasing the property in the first place,” she said. “The value to us and to the community is being able to leverage that $30 million in investment money we got through the grants and turn that into economic development.”
In addition to approving the land purchase, the board awarded a $1.6 million contract to Arcadis for designing the intermodal facility. JaxPort plans to complete construction in 2014.
In other business, board Chairman Jim Citrano said he stands ready to call a special board meeting if CEO Paul Anderson decides in the coming days to leave for a similar job in Tampa.
Anderson did not attend the meeting Tuesday. Citrano said Anderson is taking vacation time while he decides whether he will stay in Jacksonville or go to Tampa.
The Tampa port's board is scheduled to meet Tuesday and could finalize a contract with Anderson at that time.
Citrano said if Anderson takes the Tampa job, an interim CEO will be named and the board will start the search for a replacement.
Board members briefly discussed the options they have regarding Anderson's current contract, which pays him $320,000 a year.
“Why are we waiting for him to make a decision?” board member John Newman asked after noting Anderson sought out the Tampa job by applying for it and undergoing interviews.
But board members said it appears the smoothest transition would be to wait for Anderson to make his decision rather than try to end the contract before he resigns.
“We are talking about a finite period of time” for Anderson’s decision, Citrano said.
To end his contract, the board would have to show cause or pay a financial severance. If Anderson opts to go to Tampa, his resignation from JaxPort would terminate the contract.
He would be departing less than two years into the three-year contract he started in January 2011. As part of that contract, JaxPort agreed to pay up to $35,000 for moving, travel and housing expenses related to him relocating to Jacksonville from South Florida. The contract said he would have to reimburse JaxPort for those costs if he left JaxPort before his first 12 months. He has been on the job more than a year so he would not have to reimburse those costs.

Yes.

Or Norfolk Southern. We need a solution that gives all rail carriers direct access if we really want to complete with other East Coast ports.

Florida East Coast has access to the Southbank (JEA site) which WAS once part of the port and shipyards complex, they maintained a large yard resulting in I-95 being elevated at 'The Overland Bridge' when it was built. Little by little the track came out, first when the huge coal terminal/port at Mayport was shuttered as a result of the railroads converting to oil fired steam locomotives. When the last of the ship yard shut down on the Southside, there was still the generating plant and fuel oil was delivered there. When the JEA plan was razed, there was no longer any reason for the FEC to serve the site. I've spoken with the engineers for the Overland Bridge project and NONE of them were aware of the coal sorting yard under those I-95 bridges, though they were very aware that the roadway is crumbling from 'carbonization.'

The new FECI railroad mainline into Orlando could play some role in FEC having an interest in our port. We are the port of entry for millions of tons of Disney toys from the orient.

The 'JAXPORT/CSX' ICF can be put in some prospective by the 932 acre Winter Haven Intermodal Facility CSX is developing in Central Florida. From The Journal of Commerce, 2011-08-26: Florida East Coast Railway gets approval for its $72.8 million, 43-acre facility.  The Broward County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 23 unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the Florida East Coast Railway to construct and operate an intermodal container transfer facility on 42.5 acres of land at Port Everglades. And on Jan. 27, 2009, Norfolk Southern will open a new intermodal terminal in Titusville, Fla., Feb. 16, that will provide shippers of containers and trailers with improved access to central Florida.

Norfolk Southern also has established a new, faster route for intermodal traffic between Chicago and Jacksonville and Miami, Fla., improving service by a full day.  The new terminal will enable Norfolk Southern to provide highly reliable, truck-competitive service between Titusville and Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles when combined with capacity and efficiency improvements along these routes.  The terminal is strategically located near the Orlando and Tampa markets via the Bee-Line Expressway.  Norfolk Southern serves the terminal via the Florida East Coast Railroad.

No matter what size our terminal happens to be, it is not an on-dock facility such as the new terminal in the Port of Miami.

JAXPORT is technically a 3 railroad port based on container transfers to FEC and NS. With the exception of a slim marginal direct connection  with NS at the new Keystone Terminal, and the neutral switching done by Talleyrand Terminal, no railroad but CSX has actual physical access to any modern terminal.

The only solutions are for the port/city/state to purchase all of the CSX trackage east of Moncrief Yard, including all trackage in the Springfield, East Side, Panama Park neighborhoods, and all trackage along north Main Street into the edge of South Georgia. This trackage could then be operated in part by commuter rail, and in part by a larger neutral terminal operation.

My fear for the port is this terminal is/in wrong place, wrong time, wrong access, wrong size, wrong type.

Quote from: stephendare on December 16, 2012, 11:56:27 AM

Quote from: thelakelander on December 16, 2012, 11:49:56 AM
Yes.

Wonder why FEC isnt more proactive about these things?  Just not invited to the reindeer games?

Stephen,

This was all part of the SunRail/CSX/FDOT deal.

When CSX agreed to sell the ROW in Orlando to FDOT for SunRail, they in turn agreed to use the funds acquired (~$30m) to invest in rail infrastructure as part of the JAXPORT expansion with Tracon and Hanjin.

^I thought the CSX money was supposed to be used on a bypass north of town?  The intermodal yard is being paid with public funds.

Quote from: thelakelander on December 17, 2012, 12:40:00 AM
^I thought the CSX money was supposed to be used on a bypass north of town?  The intermodal yard is being paid with public funds.

The breakout is here:

http://www.dot.state.fl.us/publicinformationoffice/moreDOT/spenews/SunRailFAQJuly2011.pdf (http://www.dot.state.fl.us/publicinformationoffice/moreDOT/spenews/SunRailFAQJuly2011.pdf)

Includes $198 million for improvements to the S-Line to mitigate impact on surrounding
communities; improve freight delivery services throughout the state as Florida continues
to grow; keep consumer costs down; takes trucks off roads; protect the environment;
improve road safety; reduce road maintenance costs, etc

And here:

http://www.jaxusa.org/Files/Investor%20Newsletter/Jaxport%20Investment%20%20SunRail-Dec09.pdf (http://www.jaxusa.org/Files/Investor%20Newsletter/Jaxport%20Investment%20%20SunRail-Dec09.pdf)

From this compensation, CSXT has committed $40 million to contribute toward
providing rail connectivity to the planned Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF)
at the Port of Jacksonville (JaxPort).  This investment is subject to completion of the
ICTF and volume sufficient to fill two intermodal trains per day.

^Yes, that's for the bypass, not the ICTF.  However, CSX isn't going to build the $40 million Springfield bypass until the port has enough rail traffic to justify the cost of its construction.

QuoteCSX Corp. announced a $40 million plan Monday that it hopes will untangle truck congestion along Jacksonville's Heckscher Drive as the region braces for a shipping boom.

The Jacksonville-based railroad company plans to upgrade tracks and build a link through Nassau County to connect the rails along U.S. 17 to the main line running north toward Waycross, Ga. The idea is to divert cargo containers from the road while also avoiding rail congestion downtown.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-apr-csx-jaxport-plan-opens-the-door-for-commuter-rail

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php?topic=2069.0

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-dec-sunrail-bill-passes-what-it-means-for-jacksonville

I believe the intermodal yard is being funded through a federal TIGER grant and the State.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-12-12/story/jaxport-gets-10-million-work-railroad-yard

Actually JAXPORT has been working on plans for a TRT "truck rapid transit" exclusive truck roadway along the JEA power line route connecting JAXPORT with the WESTLAKE area.  I believe this crazy idea would work well if they junked the truck aspect and converted the plan to rails.

LOL, wouldn't it cost a lot more to construct a road for trucks instead of railroad line, which would have the ability to move more freight?

Absolutely more expense, and much higher maintenance on a 'truck way'.  I think they might have gotten the idea from the Los Angeles trolley-truck project which is supposed to handle container traffic in exclusive electrified lanes between the Port and the major rail terminals just southeast of downtown. A rail link following those north side electric transmission lines could also include a spur into the JIA free trade zone.

JaxPort, COJ, and the TPO have been working on a freight study which insludes a potential rail line north of JIA to connect the port to the westside terminals.

In that study, wasn't the JEA power line an option considered - and rejected because of noise impacts to all the residential areas that back up to the power line?

I'm not sure but I wouldn't doubt it.  What was wrong with the corridor CSX proposed?  Are we looking at two freight lines possibly being built on the Northside or is the study complementing CSX's $40 milion bypass project?

Building this line to connect the port with the CSX mainline along MLK/US-1 isn't going to achieve the desired effect of opening the port to other railroad carriers, the line MUST continue on to the Norfolk Southern near Westlake.

The more direct route along the power line right-of-way would work well if crossings were eliminated. Keeping in mind that the track would be fenced, and speeds quite low, I don't think it would bother many people.  It might bother their perception, but it wouldn't in fact.

There is plenty of room to wrap a track around the northeast corner of the recharge farm just west of Main in order to attain the right-of-way and elevate to a height of 20+ feet. Along the route, there are a couple of places where the railroad could be elevated up and over the roads, and a few where the roads (almost all 2 lane) roads could go over the railroad.  All of these crossings are measured with sufficient distance to attain the proper elevation required. With the over and under passes, there would be little noise.

I-95 - Railroad over highway

Harts Road - Highway over railroad

Biscayne - Highway over railroad

Duval - Highway over railroad

Lem Turner/I-295 - Railroad over both highways.

VC Johnson - Highway over railroad

Simmons - At grade crossing

Braddock - At grade crossing

US - 1  - At grade crossing

Old Kings/CSX JCT - At grade crossing

Plummer - Road over Railroad

Sycamore - At grade crossing

NS-Junction - At grade.

I think the TPO/JaxPort study is looking for the "best" alternative rail link between Dames Pt/Blount Island and the intermodal yards off of I-295 and Pritchard, and to cut down on the future frequency of trains going through the area north of downtown and Springfield.

And to Ock - while eliminating at grade crossing would eliminate train horns, wouldn't going up the grades increase train noise?  All those overpasses would significantly increase costs.

Quote from: Charles Hunter on December 18, 2012, 09:03:05 PM
I think the TPO/JaxPort study is looking for the "best" alternative rail link between Dames Pt/Blount Island and the intermodal yards off of I-295 and Pritchard, and to cut down on the future frequency of trains going through the area north of downtown and Springfield.

And to Ock - while eliminating at grade crossing would eliminate train horns, wouldn't going up the grades increase train noise?  All those overpasses would significantly increase costs.

Yes Charles, it would increase the cost, there are 5 overpasses for the 2 lane roads, and 2 overpasses for the railroad figured into this. The 1% grade that I calculated it on would only have a minimal effect on the train noise, the noisiest segment would fortunately be at the recharge farm just as the train leaves Main Street westbound.  There would be a 1% grade and a curve which multiplies the effort the engines must make to surmount the grade.

The 'BEST ROUTE' concept is all well and good, but to build it around to a connection at the Prichard Road is to simply solidify the CSX death grip on our port.  The JAXPORT RAILROAD (and it should be an independent terminal road) needs to reach the Norfolk Southern's Simpson Yard Intermodal Terminal, where Florida East Coast is a frequent visitor.

For those that don't know what the hell we're discussing:

I was being geographically lazy, and including NS as it isn't that far from the I-295/Pritchard interchange, just in the other direction.  I agree, there should be open access to the port by rail.