(The following story by Sonny Long appeared on the Victoria Advocate website on October 7.)
WHARTON, Texas — A transfer station and industrial park being built by Kansas City Southern Railroad Co. and CenterPoint Properties about 10 miles north of Wharton, will mean an influx of jobs, population and economic growth for the area.
“There will be about 700 to 1,000 jobs when that facility is open near Kendleton in a couple of years,” said Mike Sizemore, spokesman for KCS. “Over the course of this project in the next five to 10 years, they are expecting 3,000 jobs at that facility.”
Sizemore addressed about 100 people attending the Wharton Chamber of Commerce fall luncheon at the Wharton Civic Center.
The audience included about a dozen elected officials.
Construction of the intermodal center and industrial park, a $300 million project on 800 acres, will spur growth in the area, Sizemore said.
“I believe you are going to see within the next 10 years, big industrial development around Kendleton and moving this direction. You are going to see more housing developments. These people will have to have a place to live. Would you rather live in Wharton or Houston? You are going to see the community of Wharton, the community of El Campo, the rural parts of the county, grow and develop,” Sizemore said. “This is an exciting time to be along this line. Every single community has a golden opportunity to capitalize in the future on this project.”
“This will bring competitive rail service back to this area of Texas. There will be businesses and companies that locate in Wharton County because of this rail line,” Sizemore said. He cited assets such as the availability of land, a workforce, and educational opportunities with Wharton County Community College and the University of Houston-Victoria pushing to be a four-year university.
The center will serve as a transfer station for trucks and rail cars as KCS continues its project to restore the rail line between Victoria and Rosenberg, a $100 million project. Once restored, the line will reduce the current route to and from Mexico by about 70 miles. The restored line is part of a corridor stretching from the Port of Lazaro Cardenas on the Pacific Coast of Mexico to Kansas City, Mo.
“This is the largest rail rehabilitation project in North America and will open much needed capacity into South Texas,” Sizemore said. “Between Victoria and Rosenberg, they are building the line from both ends to the middle. That will be the focus for the rest of the year.”
By-pass issues in Victoria and El Campo must also be addressed, Sizemore said.
“El Campo is applying for a federal grant and Kansas City Southern will do the engineering work on that grant,” he said. “Preliminary engineering work is underway for the El Campo by-pass. We hope to get a report back from that in late October. After that is finished, they will move to do preliminary engineering at Victoria. That involves what the best possible route will be and environmental work.”
“Kansas City Southern has been in discussion with the Texas Department of Transportation for months about by-pass issues. Thanks to the leadership of TxDOT commissioner Ted Houghton who has been invaluable in some of these discussions, TxDOT has indicated, in a memorandum of understanding with KCS, that it was in agreement outlining joint efforts to plan for both the El Campo and Victoria by-passes. No agreement has been signed as of this date. They anticipate that coming hopefully soon. TxDOT is critical in the planning engineering phases of the by-passes and overpasses.”
He also mentioned that the increased railroad traffic would play a role in lessening the number of tractor-trailer trucks on Texas highways.
“One train can take up to about 500 long-haul trucks off our highways. It’s a more economical way to send cargo and will help in the congestion problems, as well as aid in maintenance of our highways,” Sizemore said. “Trucks will always be with us, and we’ll always need trucking, but rail can play an important component when we move cargo around this state.”
Sizemore also touched on issues of public and private railroad crossings, more than 150 along the restored line, and rebuilding of bridges, including issues regarding the historic bridge over the Colorado River.
Safety is of utmost importance to KCS, said Sizemore.
“Before these trains are running on a regular basis, KCS will come into the communities and do a public education campaign,” Sizemore said. “We haven’t had trains here in 20 years, so they’ll be talking about crossings to try to insure the public is aware that trains are coming through.”
Sizemore said the two projects combined could have a $2.8 million to $3 billion positive economic impact.
One Wharton business owner in attendance, Dianna Bone who owns Pat A Cake On the Square, was excited about the news.
“I think it will be great for Wharton and the area,” she said. “We need an influx of people for the workforce. And it will bring jobs to the area, too.”
David Schroeder, executive director of the Wharton Economic Development Corporation, agreed.
“We think it’s going to be huge for this area,” he said.