(The following story by Tom Palmer appeared on the Lakeland Ledger website on December 19.)
LAKELAND, Fla. — The fight over a plan that could route more trains through Lakeland and Winter Haven is moving to the next stage.
CSX submitted an application Wednesday to the Central Florida Regional Planning Council for approval of the first phase of a railway freight facility at the southern edge of Winter Haven near State Road 60.
The proposal is for a 318-acre site owned by Winter Haven on land adjacent to the city’s sewer plant. The project has been controversial because it is linked to a plan to divert freight rail traffic from the Orlando area to Winter Haven via Lakeland. Lakeland merchants and city officials have criticized the project, claiming increased rail traffic will hurt or reverwe redevelopment efforts in downtown Lakeland.
The next step will be for regional planners to examine the application to determine whether there are unanswered questions or further analysis required before the application will be considered complete and can proceed to a public hearing.
In the application, CSX officials wrote that they planned to begin construction on the site by August and begin operations by December 2009.
The proposed facility will combine operations from CSX’s rail facility at Taft in southern Orange County and an auto transport facility in Tampa.