Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility
The Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility (BRIMF) is a planned cargo hub under development by the Norfolk Southern Railway on a 316-acre site adjoining the Jefferson Metropolitan Industrial Park in McCalla between McAdory Elementary School and McCalla. The $112 million project, set to be completed in 2012, will accommodate the loading of shipping containers from flatbed trucks onto railcars. It is expected that the facility will have an overall economic impact of $4 billion for the region by 2020. The project is part of the railroad's overall plan to develop the Crescent Corridor from Louisiana to New Jersey. Railroad officials project that the corridor's development could create as many as 600 direct jobs, and as many as 8,000 additional indirect jobs in the area.
Preliminary design plans for the project were released in August 2009 showing sound-control walls, landscaped berms and other buffers to control the impact of the hub's operations on neighboring sites. The first phase of operations will provide space for as many as 1,154 containers on three storage tracks and two loading tracks. A second phase will add a loading track, a storage track and 336 additional storage spaces. The road entrance is located on the opposite end of the site from McAdory Elementary, over a mile away. The nearest paved storage areas to the school are shown 488 feet away from the school building with a 15-foot bern and two fences between them. An existing ridge north of Eastern Valley Road will be maintained as a buffer along the length of the site.
Opposition
In 2009 as the project site was being announced, a group of McCalla residents calling themselves "No Hub 4 McCalla" began meeting in opposition. The group, led by residents of the Sadler Ridge subdivision, claims that the county's master plan indicates non-industrial uses for the property and objects that the project would produce traffic congestion, create air and noise pollution, and lower property values. Spokesman Larry Argo told the group that they could "expect Eastern Valley Road and U. S. Highway 11 to look like Tarrant City."1. The railroad's land use is governed by federal law and is therefore not subject to county planning decisions.
In July the McAdory Elementery School PTA voted unanimously for a resolution asking the railroad to find another site to protect schoolchildren from the possible dangers of diesel fumes. Governor Bob Riley has expressed support for the project and confidence that Norfolk-Southern can satisfy the concerns of neighbors. That process was advanced by a detailed letter to Jefferson County Schools superintendent Phil Hammonds from Norfolk Southern executive Cary Booth which explained the steps the railroad would take to protect McAdory students and other neighbors from traffic, noise, runoff and emissions.
A public meeting at the Bessemer Civic Center on August 18 was attended by 400 residents, of which perhaps a fourth were sporting matching t-shirts and surgical masks indicating their membership in the "No Hub 4 McCalla" opposition group. As many as 50 Norfolk-Southern employees and consultants stood at different stations with information about specific concerns. A court reporter recorded questions from the public.
Notes
- Tomberlin - July 8, 2009
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (June 12, 2009) "Norfolk Southern eyes Birmingham area for major hub." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (July 8, 2009) "Norfolk Southern railroad hub project irks McCalla residents." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (July 11, 2009) "McCalla residents take fears about Norfolk Southern hub to county planning group." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (July 11, 2009) "McCalla chosen as site of cargo hub." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (July 17, 2009) "Planned Norfolk Southern cargo hub attracts business interest." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (July 28, 2009) "McCalla railroad hub would boost economy, Alabama governor Riley says." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 11, 2009) "Norfolk Southern officials answer questions over McCalla railroad hub." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 16, 2009) "Norfolk Southern Railroad's $112 million Alabama project similar to one Georgians had feared." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 18, 2009) "Norfolk hub to have berms near school." Birmingham News
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 19, 2009) "NOpponents of Norfolk Southern's planned railroad hub in McCalla grill company officials." Birmingham News
External links
- Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility website
- No Hub 4 McCalla website
- preliminary design at al.com
- proposed site on Google Maps