(The following report by Diane Lacey Allen appeared on The Lakeland Ledger website on Augusst 20.)
LAKELAND, Fla. — Lakeland city commissioners stopped short of officially opposing the CSX’s Winter Haven rail transfer center project on Monday. But they weren’t shy about their feelings for a plan that will bring more trains through downtown and potentially bisect the community.
Urged by the Downtown Lakeland Partnership to take a stand, City Commissioner Dean Boring referred to CSX as “a 500-pound gorilla on steroids.”
And Mayor Buddy Fletcher, who normally prefers to be an ambassador, said he was concerned that the 20- to 30-year investment in downtown might be destroyed by a steady flow of trains.
“I don’t believe the governor will let this happen,” Fletcher said in suggesting a delegation go to Gov. Charlie Crist with the problem.
The DLP’s presentation at Monday’s regular commission meeting offered many of the same concerns that have been brought up since Lakeland realized it stands to have more trains as the result of the Winter Haven hub and a switch in rail traffic lines.
Initially, CSX officials forecast that the current eight to 12 daily trains could be increased by as many as eight per day, but since then they have backed off that estimate to four more trains a day. But they said trains could get longer and that it is unrealistic to think schedules could shift to avoid rush-hour traffic.
Holly Vreeland, president of the DLP, explained that additional trains rumbling through downtown could impact merchants, restaurants and hotels. She warned that “the community-centered way of life we enjoy will dissolve into a nightmare of noise, industry and traffic.”
CSX spokesman Gary Sease, contacted after the meeting, said he had no comment about Boring’s gorilla comment. He said he expected to continue having “mature discussions with city leaders” regarding possible mitigation of train traffic.
The massive rail transfer center CSX wants to build on more than 1,000 acres in Winter Haven is tied to another major rail project – the sale of 61 miles of CSX tracks to the Florida Department of Transportation for an Orlando commuter rail system that would serve Orange, Volusia,Seminole and Osceola counties.
After Monday’s meeting, commissioners talked to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson while he made a quick stop in Lakeland.
Commissioner Gow Fields suggested to Nelson that the state take a more regional look at commuter rail. Plans currently do not include Lakeland. “This piecemeal approach doesn’t lead us anywhere,” Fields said.
Fletcher asked Nelson to look into what federal funds might be available to help with the cost of creating whistle-halting quiet zones or a tunnel to divert pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
Nelson said he would look into the situation, but offered no promise of federal funding.
Nelson also called Lakeland’s downtown rebirth “nothing short of a minor miracle” and said he would “hate to have that be messed up.”