(The following Letter to the Editor by Ann Day appeared on the Tucson Citizen website on May 15. Ms. Day is a Republican member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and a former state legislator.)
TUCSON, Ariz. — ‘Tucson at a Crossroads” was the headline of a recent newspaper series about growth and development in the Tucson region.
However that headline may be even more appropriate to something else happening in our region. Over the next few years, we may find ourselves at an actual crossroads – one that puts us in the midst of a major international trade route.
We already see increased truck and train traffic passing through the region. However these increases pale in comparison to what may be on the horizon.
In April 2006, I accompanied a delegation to meet with Mexican trade officials in Baja California. The delegation included economic development officials from Tucson Regional Economioc Opportunities, the University of Arizona and the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau.
I learned a proposal is under way for the construction of a $4 billion megaseaport called Punta Colonet. This massive new facility, on a windswept bay on the Pacific Ocean about 150 miles south of San Diego, would be the first major port constructed in North America in decades.
According to a March 25 Los Angeles Times article, this new port is being planned to offset the growing demand for Asian goods and the congestion of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Several bidders, including a Mexican conglomerate and Hong Kong and Dubai investors, are hoping to fund this development to provide an additional transportation corridor from Asia to U.S. markets.
The official construction bidding process will begin within the next few months with contracts to be announced by the end of the year. Construction is planned to start in early 2009 with completion projected for 2014.
Upon completion, initial port deliveries will approach 1 million containers per year with annual growth to 5 million containers within five years. It takes 10,000 trains to transport 1 million containers. With 5 million containers, we could see 50,000 more trains per year through Tucson.
One idea that was seriously discussed during my trip to Mexico was extending rail lines from the port that would then be connected to the United States through a series of new and existing rail lines running through Yuma, Red Rock and Tucson.
This route would handle all container rail transportation from the port into the United States from Mexico into Arizona. Once in the United States, Union Pacific could then transport these container trains across southern Arizona along existing rail lines, which parallel Interstates 8 and 10 to Picacho Peak.
Could the primary purpose of Union Pacific’s proposed Red Rock rail yard at Picacho Peak be to accommodate the sorting of these loaded containers onto trains for their final destinations within the United States?
Union Pacific is installing new parallel tracks throughout the region and is aggressively pushing a controversial six-mile-long classification yard to be located next to Picacho Peak State Park.
This classification yard is not for goods moving to and from Arizona; it is for sorting cargo passing through, destined for the rest of the country.
The rail companies have repeatedly blocked efforts for the public to have meaningful input into future trade route plans. Many stories have been written about the difficulties of Yuma and Red Rock property owners trying to get information from rail officials.
I am asking state officials to support state Rep. Jonathan Paton’s legislation requiring increased public input into rail expansion plans. However this alone is not nearly enough.
Discussions are taking place on the feasibility and desirability of a truck bypass route. However no such efforts or discussions are taking place on the impacts of rail traffic expansion.
The state and the region must embark on a serious effort to understand the impact of this increase in rail traffic and trade. We must establish a mechanism to take advantage of opportunities while minimizing the potentially serious impacts.
We truly may be at a crossroads – one that will define the future of the entire region.
Our city has long been a house divided by a rail line and an interstate highway. If our future is not to be defined by the ever-increasing widening of this divide, we must have greater local, state and federal participation in planning for the flow of international trade bisecting our community.
Otherwise, Tucson could find itself on the wrong side of the tracks – turned into a train and truck stop for the economic benefit of the rest of the country.