(The following editorial appeared on the Roanoke Times website on April 9.)
ROANOKE, Va. — The Montgomery County community is the only choice for a rail project that will benefit the entire commonwealth.
It is time for Montgomery County — Elliston in particular — to stop being so selfish. An intermodal yard would change things there, but not calamitously. Rather, it would benefit the region and the commonwealth.
Norfolk Southern Corp., which wants to build the yard as part of its Heartland Corridor project, and state transportation officials have looked for other places to put it. They studied nine other sites and found each lacking.
On Monday, the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation announced its conclusion: Only Elliston satisfies all of the key evaluation criteria. The site has good truck access to Interstate 81, is located on the rail line, provides sufficient acreage of suitable topography and meets several other requirements.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors wasted no time responding. It press release indicated supervisors will continue to stomp their feet, hold their breath and file lawsuits. They will do whatever it takes to divert the project.
If they succeed, it would be a terrible loss. Goods that now travel to and from Norfolk’s ports by truck could shift to rail cars, eliminating some truck traffic on many of the commonwealth’s highways. The yard also would create jobs directly and indirectly, boosting the region’s stagnant economy.
Yet Gov. Tim Kaine seems unwilling to tell supervisors, Del. Dave Nutter and the residents of Elliston to cool their opposition. Instead he has called for a meeting of government representatives from up and down the Heartland Corridor to talk some more.
Yes, the intermodal site would create more noise, smoke, dust and truck traffic. It would be incongruous with the surrounding fields and hills. But if not Elliston, probably nowhere, and Virginia would forsake all of the benefits.
This important piece of infrastructure has become like a prison or halfway house that no one wants in his back yard, though nearly everyone agrees it has to go somewhere.
Travel away from the site, and the invasive industrialism would disappear. The rural character of Elliston would survive a short distance from the highway and the rail lines.
When local governments gather at the governor’s urging, there is only one question to discuss: Will Montgomery County suck it up and take one for the team? The local impacts are small compared to the widespread gains.