(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 9.)
BILOXI, Miss. — Barring a deal to sell railway land to the state, Mississippi’s Gulf Coast could have its CSX train system running by early March.
The state plans to turn the land into an east-west connector road. If a deal goes through, it is unclear where, or if, CSX would relocate.
Anthony Topazi, vice chairman for the Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal, said he hopes the state can buy the land in March.
CSX officials have not made a decision on the deal yet.
“We are still willing to consider (the sale), but right now our goal is to re-establish the rail line,” said Meg Scheu, a CSX spokesperson. “We have employees at CSX who are working at the state and local level. Relocating the lines would take lots of time, so it is not something that could be done quickly.”
If the state acquired the land, the new road would be essential, Topazi said. It would diminish traffic on U.S. 90 and create a scenic boulevard for local governments.
The commission’s plan includes rail transportation along the route of the proposed connector road.
The state would have to build a bridge for the road that would stretch across the bay, connecting Biloxi to Ocean Springs.
Topazi said that CSX has invested time developing an alternative to its current path.
“They (CSX) have done an outstanding job in trying to come up with a creative solution,” he said. “They have been working hard at that for a number of months. I am really enthused.”
But Topazi indicated that every detail has not been resolved.
“We’ve got to be realistic about this,” he said. “CSX has responsibilities to its shareholders to operate a railroad that they have got to meet. They are trying to find a win-win situation for their being able to convey that right of way to the state.”
In the meantime, CSX is repairing the railroad, and piles of wooden crossties have appeared along the tracks in Harrison County — evidence that the company is still working on the existing line.
Fixing the two-mile bridge that spans across the Bay of St. Louis is one of the primary obstacles that CSX faces, Scheu said.