BNSF asks to use eminent domain to complete land acquisition for Denver-area intermodal terminal
BNSF Railway is asking officials in Colorado’s Weld County for eminent-domain authority to obtain land for a new intermodal facility. BizWest reports the railroad has submitted 10 requests at Weld County District Court in Greeley to acquire land to build a new intermodal facility near its existing Hudson Logistics Center about 30 miles northeast of Denver. The railroad has already acquired most of the necessary land and is making the eminent-domain requests where it was unable to reach terms with the current owners of the remaining parcels. The current Hudson facility is a 430-acre rail industrial park adjacent to both a BNSF main line and Interstate 76.
California agency provides $27.8 million for new LA Metro light rail vehicles
Funding for 78 new LA Metro light rail vehicles was the only rail-related project among 33 receiving a total of $924 million from the California Transportation Commission, the agency announced in a press release following its May meeting, although a second could go to bus rapid transit or rail transit. The $27.8 million will go toward light-rail order with an option to buy an additional 39 vehicles. The commission also awarded $5 million for environmental documentation for the Vermont Transit Corridor, which will see development of bus rapid transit or rail transit between Hollywood Boulevard and 120th Street. That 12.5-mile stretch is the second-busiest bus corridor in L.A. County with more than 45,000 weekday boardings prior to the pandemic, and includes connections to four rail lines: the Red, Purple, Expo, and Green lines.
Cities ask for help in dealing with long-abandoned Northeast Corridor station
Pawtucket and Central Falls, R.I., are asking a judge to appoint a special master to address a long-abandoned, deteriorating train station built over the Northeast Corridor that the mayor of Central Falls says “is falling on the Amtrak line” and “is the definition of a public nuisance.” The Providence Journal reports the station, built in 1915 and closed in 1959, has deteriorated while a series of development plans fell through, and has become a site for squatters, illegal dumping and a fire. Police and fire departments have responded to 20 incidents at the building in the last two years. The cities’ petition asks that the special master “take control of the property, preserve the deteriorating building and report the current status of all safety and code violations and how to address those.” The brick Beaux-Arts style station was built by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad to replace stations in both Pawtucket and Central Falls; a new commuter rail station is being built several blocks away.
The intermodal terminal area roads will suffer because the trucks will be on the roads coming to the intermodal facility for loading. The inbound intermodal traffic will be off loaded and then pulled somewhere else via roadways.
If the enlargement of the intermodal terminal results in less trucks pounding the highways, then it is for the public’s benefit.
The tiny Grafton & Upton is trying to do the same thing in Massachusetts.
Railroads, pipelines, powerlines, etc. Would never have been able to be built without the states delegating eminent domain authority to private utilities and RR’s. Its as old and as necessary now as ever.
Agree with Messera’s post. Eminent domain is as important to utilities and railroads as it is to highways. Else nothing could get built. It’s the last resort if the two parties can’t agree …. and it being the last resort it is necessary to bring the parties to the table.
BNSF asking for eminent domain to acquire property is an abuse of eminent domain and should be denied. Eminent domain’s use should be very limited, and only for projects by the government for everyone’s use, not for a private company’s new pet project.