Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility

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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 between McAdory Elementary School and McCalla. The $97 million project, set to begin construction in Spring 2011 and to be completed in late 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.

Norfolk Southern purchased the property from six owners for a total of nearly $12 million. 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.

In December 2009 Norfolk Southern joined the U. S. Green Building Council. In their announcement they pledged to seek LEED certification for their intermodal terminals under construction in Birmingham, Memphis, Tennessee and Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Bidding for the Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility began in February 2011.

Controversy

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.

The Jefferson County Board of Education approved a resolution to commission independent reports on traffic and environmental impacts of the proposed project before voting to support or oppose its construction. When meetings resumed in November a group of supporters had emerged calling themselves "McCallaCan". Both groups attended public presentations by the Alabama Department of Transportation, Norfolk-Southern, and the Birmingham Business Alliance.

Construction

Ground was broken for the terminal on June 6, 2011. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman attended the ceremony.

Notes

  1. 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) "Opponents of Norfolk Southern's planned railroad hub in McCalla grill company officials." Birmingham News
  • Tomberlin, Michael (August 21, 2009) "Jefferson County, Alabama school board seeks study on effects of railroad hub." Birmingham News
  • Tomberlin, Michael (November 7, 2009) "McCalla meetings to discuss Norfolk Southern hub project." Birmingham News
  • Tomberlin, Michael (December 29, 2009) "Norfolk Southern paid nearly $12 million for rail hub land at McCalla." Birmingham News
  • Tomberlin, Michael (October 17, 2010) "Hurdle ahead for McCalla railroad hub proposal." Birmingham News
  • "Work starts on key Crescent Corridor terminal" (June 6, 2011) Railway Age

External links

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