Inland Port-Syracuse

Lets see if CSX gets on board?


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After a year of near-total silence about the project, New York transportation official Matt Driscoll said the state has settled on rail yard near the border of DeWitt and Manlius as the site for Central New York's proposed "inland port."

Then Driscoll went silent again, leaving community leaders and others to wonder what is happening with the project.

The inland port - an intermodal cargo facility where trucks and rail cars can be loaded - was a key plank in Central New York's $500 million revitalization plan of 2015.

Members of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council and other local leaders hoped an inland port would lure warehouses and light manufacturing, creating up to 2,000 jobs.

But Driscoll's mysterious announcement Oct. 26 on a radio talk show left many questions unanswered.

Driscoll called in by phone to speak with Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, who was guest hosting "The Bob Lonsberry Show'' on 570 WSYR. Driscoll told Mahoney he was negotiating with CSX railroad officials to create the intermodal facility at the DeWitt rail yard near Kirkville and Girden Roads, at the border of Manlius and DeWitt.

"We certainly know that the existing DeWitt rail yard really makes the most sense to site an inland port facility,'' Driscoll said, according to a recording of the segment.

They may built it, but that doesn't guaranty that CSX would use it.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A rail yard in the suburbs of Syracuse will be expanded to load and unload international imports and exports under a $19 million project to be funded by state taxpayers, New York transportation officials announced today.

A long-awaited contract between the state Department of Transportation and CSX Corp., owner of the rail yard, has received final approval, officials said. Under the deal, the state will pay the $19 million cost of the project, which can be increased to as much as $21 million if state officials agree.

When the project is completed, ocean-bound containers of lumber, metals, soybeans or other Upstate products can be taken by train from the DeWitt rail yard straight to freighters in the Port of New York/New Jersey. Imports from abroad can be loaded directly from ships onto trains and brought to DeWitt.

State officials said the rail service should be significantly cheaper than sending cargo to the ocean port by truck. They hope to reduce costs by $500 per container.

"We're making the Central New York area more economically competitive, because through this project we'll be able to reduce the cost of transporting goods in and out,'' said Ron Epstein, executive deputy commissioner at the DOT.

The project will convert the rail yard into an "import-export facility,'' Epstein said.

That means installing new crane equipment and lifts to load and unload cargo from trains and trucks. The project also involves upgrading security at the site and constructing areas to stack shipping containers. Some of the grant also will pay for deploying technology to allow for International imports and exports, officials said.

Under the contract, CSX has 18 months to complete the project after receiving all the necessary permits. DOT officials said they hope the inland port will be operating before the end of 2019.

It's not clear how long it will take to complete an environmental review or to obtain permits, DOT officials said. The rail yard, which straddles the border between the towns of DeWitt and Manlius, is hemmed in by wetlands.

DOT officials said they do not anticipate any need to modify roads serving the rail yard, which is off Fremont and Girden roads. Existing roads are sufficient to handle truck traffic for the expected volume of up to 30,000 containers a year at the facility, DOT officials said.

Local entrepreneur Eckardt "Chris" Beck, CEO of 3Gi Terminals, said he has been in talks with CSX and hopes to negotiate an agreement with the railroad to help run the inland port. Beck said he has partnered with Intransit Container, Inc., which operates an international container yard in Worcester, Mass., in anticipation of helping to operate the DeWitt inland port.

CSX officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Beck also said his company controls "potentially several hundred acres'' of land near the DeWitt rail yard, where he hopes to build warehouses or other facilities to serve the port.

DOT officials said the port will be operated by CSX, but the railroad is free to contract for services. The state will retain an ownership interest in the inland port equipment for the 15-year term of the contract.

Beck said he has been promoting the DeWitt inland port for the past seven years. The facility will boost local businesses, he said.

"I am tickled pink that this has happened,'' he said.

Some Syracuse-area development leaders were disappointed when DOT officials announced in December that they had chosen the DeWitt site for the inland port. The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council had promoted sites in Camillus and Jamesville, in hopes that the greater availability of adjacent land at those sites would spur vast development of job-creating warehouses.

But DOT officials determined that CSX's existing DeWitt rail yard was the only viable location for the project.

Local officials today praised the state's investment.

"This will only enhance our ability to thrive in today's global markets," said Randy Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York and co-chair of the REDC.

DOT officials today said they could not estimate how many construction jobs or permanent jobs the inland port project will create. CSX will be responsible for building and staffing the facility, they said.

Was wondering if anyone has heard anything in regards to updates on this project.

I did read that CSX has money in the 2019-2020 budget to upgrade as the inland port takes shape?

I have not seen a thing in local papers since last Summer?


JB

In February the new county exec talked about it in an interview.

ONONDAGA COUNTY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — We’ve had many people contact the Your Stories Answer Desk asking about the inland port set to go into the railyard in the East Syracuse/DeWitt area.

NewsChannel 9 actually saw some preliminary work happening this week. The State DOT reports that construction is expected to begin later this fall and the project should be completed by summer of next year. The state committed $19 million to allow freight to get from New York and New Jersey up to Onondaga County.

update:

I noticed the other day when I went over 481S overpass, that CSX/contractor has started to grade/move the piles of dirt in the old westbound departure yard at Dewitt (this dirt came from the old eastbound hump removal)

Anyone know what CSX plans on doing with this area of yard?

Remove dirt mountain so it is a usable area of yard again?


thank you in advance,