BUFFALO, N.Y. — CSX Transportation will relocate its “transflo” terminal from William Street to a 30-acre former Conrail yard in Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood, the Buffalo News reports.
The move will allow the railroad to expand both its transflo operations — which involves handling bulk materials that can be poured — and intermodal operations in Buffalo. The intermodal yard on William Street will have room to grow after the transflo terminal is relocated.
The Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corp. approved an easement Wednesday for the railroad to cross property at the city’s Buffalo Free Trade Complex on River Rock Drive.
The easement allows CSX to develop the former Conrail yard, which was shut down years before Conrail was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern Railroad in 1998.
State officials have committed $4 million to help CSX develop the yard.
The transflo terminal handles the loading and unloading of flours, grains, vegetable oils, minerals, chemicals and other bulk goods.
The intermodal terminal transfers shipping containers directly from trains to tractor-trailer trucks.
City officials hope CSX will promote Buffalo as an “inland port” for the Port of New York/New Jersey. The railroad can take containers directly from commercial ships and transport them to its intermodal terminal in Buffalo for processing.
“Buffalo is repositioning itself to be an important port city. Bioinformatics is going to be very important to our future … But we also have to produce jobs that pay $10 to $18 to $20 an hour for people to support their families. There is a lack of middle class jobs in our community,” said Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello, who chairs the BERC.
CSX officials could not be reached to comment.
In other business, the BERC’s board agreed to apply for $1.5 million from the state’s new Empire Opportunity Fund. The new fund was created with this year’s state budget to finance major economic development projects.
BERC is applying for $1 million to help build a business incubator in the Union Shop Canal business park, which is being developed in South Buffalo, and $500,000 for the planned conversion of Central Park Plaza into a mixed-use office and retail center.
State officials are expected to announce the Empire Opportunity Fund awards in September.