Protestors aim to stop CSX expansion plans

[Anonymous]

LAKELAND - A group of protestors in Polk County is trying to derail a CSX train project. They held signs, collected signatures, and provided information to passersby in Munn Park in Lakeland at lunchtime on Friday.

CSX wants to increase the number of trains it sends through downtown Lakeland. Not long ago, the company was talking about eight more trains a day. Recently, it has dropped that estimate to four.

Either way, protestors say more trains, no matter how many, are a bad idea.

"The amount of disruption it's going to cause it going to be tremendous," said Julie Townsend of the Downtown Lakeland Partnership, the business group that organized the event.

Demonstrators say more trains would cause traffic delays and tie-ups, and make downtown much more noisy. That, they say, would be terrible for business.

"You get the public perception that there are going to be a lot of problems associated with the train, and they're going to stay away from it," said William Wakeman III, who owns property and an investment firm downtown.

The trains would come from CSX's proposed hub in Winter Haven. They would be going from there through Lakeland to the Port of Tampa where they would pick up cargo and come back again.

The City of Winter Haven and the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce are thrilled over the hub because it would create jobs. Many homeowners who live near the proposed hub are fighting it.

The protestors in Lakeland insist that CSX could upgrade its existing lines outside Lakeland and avoid the city completely.

CSX spokesman Gary Sease told FOX 13, "That is not an option."

Sease says CSX is willing to sit down and negotiate with Lakeland officials. He says CSX may be able to compromise with a "quiet zone." In essence, trains would not blow their horns as they go through downtown.

Townsend is thinking bigger thoughts. She and others are collecting signatures with hopes of sitting down with the governor.

Even though, Townsend admits, it's a David and Goliath-like battle, she says the little guy has stopped similar projects elsewhere.

[fuzzybroken]

Well, I s'pose CSX could just hire a trucking company to haul the freight on the last leg of its journey, and make sure that the convoy makes its way right through Lakeland.  I wonder how Julie would like that?   Maybe CSX should do it before they would start running the trains, just as a publicity stunt or something like that...

 

Of course, compare that to the reaction I saw in Plymouth, WI two Saturdays ago, where people were coming out and getting pictures of the train, since they don't see one very often!

 

[zugmann]

These dead downtowns are grasping at straws to solve their problems.  Much easier to blame the railroad than to face their own problems with lack of industry, drugs, and slums.  

 

[Anonymous]

yea lakeland is a small town that has nothing going on in it. its stuck between Tampa and Orlando. i laughed at this when i saw it on the news this am.. they told CSX they need to run the tracks around town one lady said like a bypass.. I laughed..

[Poppa_Zit]

yea lakeland is a small town that has nothing going on in it. its stuck between Tampa and Orlando. i laughed at this when i saw it on the news this am.. they told CSX they need to run the tracks around town one lady said like a bypass.. I laughed..

The City of Lakeland, Florida is 52 square miles with nearly 92,000 people. Over 500,000 people live in the county, a high percentage of retirees. Vehicle traffic is so heavy in Lakeland -- which has several major shopping districts -- the state built a highway bypass off I-4 to quickly move through traffic away from the business district.

So I'd hardly call it a small town that has nothing going on in it. But I agree, four to eight trains a day through town won't adversely affect anything.

[tomikawaTT]

Easy way for the protestors to get what they want -

ANTE UP THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THE BYPASS!!!

THEIR money, not "taxpayer" money.

If anyone believes they'll do that, I have this slightly used bridge between New York County and Kings County...

Chuck

[Steam Is King]

Its getting tothe point where people complain about everything. most of the people down there are retired anyway. They probably don't want more trains during the day interrupting their naps. LOL! they want a Class 1 railroad that;'s been there for years to modify it;s business practcies just so they don't have to wait a few minutes for an extra train once in a while;? SO what's their big hurry?

Chico 

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Protests such as this are definitely not solely directed at railroads, airport authorities, etc.  They are not uncommon in once-rural areas on the fringes of metropolitan areas that are beginning to be developed.  The urban escapees are seeking to preserve the vanishing rural atmosphere by protesting developers who are planning either commercial development or housing on lots that are smaller than 1/4 acre.  They then complain about how high their property taxes rise in order to pay for the schools and what-have-you that are needed to support the increased population.

[ValleyX]

Why does CSX need permission to run more trains on CSX track?  I'm having a hard time understanding why they didn't start running more trains because they could.

[BaltACD]

The typical NIMBY issues.  We want an expanding economy with increased incomes and job opportunities available to us, but not in my back yard.

[mudchicken]

Why does CSX need permission to run more trains on CSX track?  I'm having a hard time understanding why they didn't start running more trains because they could.

Never explained here ("Train project" never defined) , but I suspect that CSX either was adding another track at a crossing or wanted to modify signal crossing protection, either of which requires a PUC Decision and a public meeting. A simple increase in traffic does not require a hearing. Instead of a "quiet zone", perhaps denoting the local limits of the NIMBY "stupid zone" ought to be demarked  with large orange traffic signs. 

[CShaveRR]

Lets see, now...

CSX in Lakeland, Florida, and Union Grove, Indiana.

UP in Arizona and Colorado.

BNSF at Abo Canyon.

DME at Rochester.

Anyone protesting what the other big railroads want to do to expand to handle the business?

[cacole]

Yes, there have been a lot of NIMBY protesters here in Arizona who are opposed to the Union Pacific's double-tracking project.  Residents of the thriving metropolis of Bowie, pop. 70 or less, complained to the Arizona Corporation Commission because the UP had the gall to put down another track at the only road crossing in town and install electric signals and crossing gates, without getting their permission ahead of time.

And the Arizona Corporation Commission has been complaining about it and demanding that the UP notify them and get their approval before any more track is put down.

 

[Anonymous]

People have nothing better to do. They always want to protest the big bad railroad. Around here they whine about property disputes when the railroad has been there 100+ years and the town was built after the railroad was. They buy a house that's right off the right away and complain about the noise.People are funny.

[Andrew Falconer]

If these same people build a huge house or a box store that blocks the access of wildlife to forests and lakes, they will tell everybody to get a life, it is just a stupid animal. The point is that when these people get the financing they will build what ever they want, where ever they want, and it is their business only. As soon as the railroad builds on the established right-of-way these people feel that their life is disrupted. Stupid hypocrites.

Andrew

[SD60M]

Lets see, now...

CSX in Lakeland, Florida, and Union Grove, Indiana.

UP in Arizona and Colorado.

BNSF at Abo Canyon.

DME at Rochester.

Anyone protesting what the other big railroads want to do to expand to handle the business?

Actually yes Tupelo is wanting BNSF to build a Viaduct over the WHOLE CITY!!! When i was down there the train traffic didnt seem to bad. The people are mad because the crossing is right in the middle of town, i said so what they have no idea of what train traffic is. In Memphis the NS has its mainline right next to my old highschool and there are maybe 30 to 40 trains a day and we have BNSF, UP, CN, and CSX to deal with and nobody seems to care. I think folks forget that trains are what carry everthing we need and they keep trucks of the road you would think people would love trains for that one!

[P42 108]

Any CSX expansion plan sounds good to me. People should have expected that there would be disruptive trains coming through town when they moved next to trains tracks. CSX has my vote on this one. Send 12 trains through there!

[GP-9_Man11786]

Here on the Island, we have local politicians and civic groupes linning up out the door to protest the planned LIRR/New York & Atlantic intermodal facility in Brentwood, NY. The fear increased traffic and disrupted quality of life. Never mind that it will take trucks of the highways and is being built on an old insane asylum (which perhaps should be reopened for thse NIMBY types).