(The following story by Michael Tomberlin appeared on The Birmingham News website on August 11, 2010.)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Norfolk Southern took elected leaders and economic development officials for a ride when it comes to its $2.5 billion Crescent Corridor and a $112 million shipping hub in McCalla.
A ride on a train, that is.
Around 100 officials and guests boarded a Norfolk Southern passenger train Tuesday morning in Irondale for a ride to Coaling in Tuscaloosa County and back.
The trip took the group past the 316 acres where the company’s planned Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility will be built on property between McAshan Drive and McAdory Elementary School.
The rail hub project drew fierce opposition from homeowners and other McCalla residents, as well as parents and teachers at the school who feared the project would lead to dirtier air, increased truck traffic and noisy operations.
But many state and local elected leaders put their support behind the project, as did economic development officials.
Newell Baker, an industrial developer with Norfolk Southern who helped select the McCalla site, said Tuesday’s train ride was meant to give officials a chance to see the? company’s operations and the McCalla site from a different perspective.
“We wanted to pass along as much information as we can to those who have shown an interest in the project and give them a rail-side view,” Baker said.
Baker said the McCalla project requires one final public meeting, and it looks like it will be held in October. After that, construction of the facility can begin, likely before the end of the year, he said.
The McCalla hub is set to open in early 2012 if all goes according to plan.
Baker said the hub is going to literally put Birmingham on the map when it comes to companies that set logistics as a priority.
“Having this facility in the Birmingham area will be somewhat like having an inland port here,” Baker said. “It gives the Birmingham area an opportunity to be involved in domestic and international freight shipping on a different scale than ever before.”
The hub will serve as a site to transfer shipping containers between trucks and trains and transport them from New Orleans to Savannah or Charlotte or virtually any other East Coast port. Norfolk Southern’s link to other rail carriers even opens up ports in the West.
Patrick Murphy, head of economic development for the Birmingham Business Alliance, said the hub is already drawing interest.
“We anticipate a lot of projects coming from this facility,” he said. “We have already seen interest from warehouse and distribution operations, but we’ve also been encouraged by the attention we’ve seen from manufacturers.”
David Hutchison, director of business development with Alabama Development Office, said the state’s leading recruitment agency sees benefits.
“It will enhance not only the Birmingham area, but really the whole state when it comes to the shipping capabilities,” he said. “I think once we get a year or six months away from the facility opening, we’re going to see a lot of project activity as a direct result of this facility.”
Norfolk Southern plans to help market Birmingham to new industry, Baker said.