(The following story by Rick Rousos appeared on The Ledger website on May 18.)
LAKELAND, Fla. — Headlines blaring “Railroad Deal Dead in Its Tracks” don’t mean downtown Lakeland won’t see a significant increase in freight trains.
And it doesn’t mean the so-dubbed “Mother of All Rail Yards” won’t be built in southern Winter Haven or that the 61 miles of commuter rail from DeLand to Poinciana won’t still happen.
Florida lawmakers ended their annual session earlier this month without approving the final ingredient of a commuter rail plan – a no-fault liability provision that would have made the $641 million CSX commuter rail project a done deal.
That left many uncertainties attached to the future of commuter rail and the fate of downtown Lakeland.
Less uncertain is the eventual construction of the Winter Haven rail facility, which, while not a lock, appears to be at the very least a good bet.
In an attempt to clarify the status of the project, The Ledger sent a series of questions to CSX spokesman Gary Sease; state Sens. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, (who did not reply); state Reps. Dennis Ross and Seth McKeel, both R-Lakeland; city managers David Greene of Winter Haven and Doug Thomas of Lakeland; Lakeland City Commissioner Gow Fields; Bob Gernert, Greater Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce executive director; and Julie Townsend, Downtown Lakeland Partnership executive director.
The Ledger also spoke with Dick Kane, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
The following is a summary of how they replied:
Q. With the failure of the commuter rail deal in the Legislature, will CSX still build its Winter Haven rail hub?
A. All the officials we asked said the facility likely will be built. After the commuter rail deal failed to pass, the company notified Gov. Charlie Crist and other state officials it would still build the Winter Haven facility.
Q. What are the plans as of now?
A. CSX spokesman Sease said the first phase of the development, called an automotive and intermodal facility, is for trains carrying vehicles and containerized goods. CSX hopes to have all the necessary permits by the end of this year so it can have the $125 million first phase, which CSX will pay for, complete by the end of 2009.
Q. What happens next?
A. Phase 2 of the plan entails building a logistics center – a group of warehouses; light manufacturing outlets; and office, commercial and residential developments that will be the by-product of the operation, Sease said. CSX could build warehouse space and lease it or lease some of its land to developers who would build the warehouses. The company does not have a cost estimates available for Phase 2.
Some of the light manufacturing sites would be for workers to assemble goods that come in pieces in containers for stores such as Target and Wal-Mart.
Q. Will the opening of Phase 1 mean more freight traffic for downtown Lakeland?
A. More is a virtual sure thing, but nobody knows how many more than the 16 per day that now pass through Lakeland.
Had the commuter rail deal gone through, freight traffic on the CSX “A” Line through Orlando would have been transferred to the “S” Line. That would have meant to get to the Winter Haven terminal, all freight traffic from Jacksonville would have traveled through Ocala and downtown Lakeland.
The A line runs through Orlando and would have been used for commuter rail.
Without commuter rail, CSX could use the A Line or the S Line to get to Winter Haven, although the S Line adds six miles to the trip, according to CSX. “We have two good lines, and we plan to use them both,” Sease said.
He would not say whether one would be used more than the other, saying business conditions will eventually dictate that.
Q. What if the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, which is now reviewing the plans for the development, recommends a denial of the project?
A. The agency’s recommendation would be forwarded to Winter Haven’s city government, likely this fall. The Winter Haven City Commission will hold a hearing, and if they want the project to move forward, commission members would vote to approve it and issue a development order.
Q. Can a development order be appealed?
A. Yes. If the state Department of Community Affairs has valid objections to the development order, it could appeal. The appeal would go to Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet, sitting as the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission.
The lesson learned from the legislative session, said the Downtown Lakeland Partnership’s Townsend, “is not to assume it is a done deal.”
There are obstacles for any project, said Gernert, the Winter Haven chamber executive. “The question is: ‘Do we have the talent and creativity to overcome those stumbling blocks?’ And I believe we do.”
Q. Why did the commuter-rail deal fail in the legislative session?
A. Sen. Dockery was a powerful and unifying force in gathering opposition to the plan. But the biggest downfall of the rail plan was the state trial lawyers group opposition to shifting liability on the tracks from CSX to state taxpayers. A letter from Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer, asked legislators to limit the liability provisions of the deal and to “prevent future negotiations from happening under the cover of darkness.”
In the end, a powerful trial lawyers’ group called the Florida Justice Association raised concerns that potential damage awards would be reduced by the deal, so they lobbied and killed it, at least for now.
Q. In October last year, Sease told the Tampa Tribune there would be “no reason to move our A Line traffic to the S Line without this agreement” with the state for commuter rail. “We are making the move to accommodate the new commuter-rail service through Central Florida.” Is that still the case?
A. No. Sease now says freight traffic to Winter Haven will use both routes. He notes the company uses both lines now.
Q. Does that make sense?
A. Rep. Ross says it does. Like other officials, he predicts “in the absence of commuter rail, I think CSX will continue to use both lines.”
DOT spokesman Kane said the choice of whether to use the S or A line is up to CSX. “It’s their track. They’re a private freight line.”
Q. Where is the $641 million now, and is there a deadline for spending it?
A. Kane said the money is in various DOT work accounts. Everyone agrees a deal must be approved by June 30, 2009, for the money to be spent on the commuter-rail plan. That gives the Legislature another crack at approving a deal next spring.
Any plan, Rep. McKeel said, must be “a plan that truly contemplates alleviating freight traffic through downtown Lakeland.”
Q. Is there an alternative to the plan that was rejected by the Legislature?
A. Maybe. All of the respondents from Lakeland agree the state has to look at the bigger commuter-rail picture to find a plan for what Commissioner Fields termed “the entire I-4 corridor, not just half of it.”
Sen. Dockery and Rep. Ross say the defeat of the commuter-rail project should give people time to take a breath and to get things right. There has been some talk of a special legislative commuter-rail sesson, but so far none has materialized.
Ross and Dockery say they will approach Amtrak officials to see whether a Daytona Beach-to-Tampa commuter-rail plan would be feasible. Whatever the cost, Dockery said, “it would be a lot cheaper than having CSX involved in it.”
Q. Lakeland, fearing its downtown would be divided in two by freight trains, screamed murder at the commuter-rail plan. Did that win the city any friends?
A. Not really. Gernert, referring to tactics used by Lakeland opponents of the rail proposal, said a more widespread plan for commuter rail will “take more creative thought and compromise than placing a dunk tank and holding an anti-CSX rally in Munn Park. Are we willing to come to the table in a spirit of cooperation?”
Q. As part of the commuter-rail deal, about $200 million was to be spent to improve the S Line, which would have borne the brunt of north-south freight traffic in Central Florida. That would have included some bridges for trains or cars and so-called “quiet zones” for Lakeland. Without the commuter-rail deal, will CSX still make the improvements?
A. No. The money that would have been spent was public money included in the commuter-rail deal. In the absence of the commuter-rail deal, CSX won’t finance the improvements.
“Lakeland will see additional freight traffic and have no identifiable funding sources to implement quiet zones,” said Thomas, Lakeland’s city manager.
Q. Freight from Tampa and the Port of Manatee comes to Polk County on the S Line. Will these two ports be sending freight to Winter Haven?
A. Greene, Winter Haven’s manager, said he expects that with improvements at the Port of Manatee and the widening of the Panama Canal, “It would be expected that container shipments will pass through Winter Haven from many different sources and ports of entry.” Several of the officials we queried shared Greene’s assessment.
Sease, however, said the current business model for Winter Haven calls for containerized goods and vehicles to arrive at the Winter Haven terminal, but not from Tampa or the Port of Manatee.
Q. Will the Taft rail yard in Orlando stay open once Winter Haven terminal opens?
A. Probably, but likely with a scaled-back operation.
Q. The DOT in Bartow has contracted with a consultant to study alternatives to freight lines through downtown Lakeland. What will the study attempt to determine and when will the study be finished?
A. The $723,398 study will determine whether it’s feasible to reroute freight trains around downtown Lakeland.
It is expected to be finished in March next year. The Legislative session next year begins March 3.