PrintPrint
Hundreds of North Charleston residents looked on Thursday evening as Mayor Keith Summey publicly unveiled a three-way agreement among North Charleston, developer Shipyard Creek Associates and CSX Transportation that could pave the way for near-dock rail access to a new cargo terminal under construction at the former Navy base.
By Daniel Brock
dbrock@scbiznews.com
Published July 9, 2010
Hundreds of North Charleston residents looked on Thursday evening as Mayor Keith Summey presented his plan for commercial rail in the city.
 “I don’t think the state of South Carolina is living up to its obligation to us.” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey |
It was the public unveiling of a three-way agreement among North Charleston, developer Shipyard Creek Associates and CSX Transportation that could pave the way for near-dock rail access to the S.C. State Ports Authority terminal under construction at the former Navy base.
“I don’t really understand it yet, but it sounds good for Park Circle,” said Joe Dodson, who moved to the historic neighborhood five years ago.
Summey made his case at the Felix C. Davis Community Center in Park Circle, where he said he was “throwing the gauntlet.”
“I don’t think the state of South Carolina is living up to its obligation to us,” Summey said, noting that state lawmakers and the S.C. Department of Commerce are opponents of the deal.
The basic tenets of the agreement are threefold:
Those requirements would ensure southern rail access to the new cargo terminal via a service loop. They would also achieve Summey’s longed-for goal of nixing rail out the former Navy base’s north end, which would have pierced long-standing city redevelopment projects and other neighborhoods.
All told, the agreement would remove 3.2 miles of rail from North Charleston, produce a half-mile connector and reopen a half mile of track that’s currently closed. The city would also get more than 30 acres — some as part of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy program — that would allow for bike paths, park spaces and retail ventures.
Summey said he hopes to “knit” back together communities that have been divided by rail lines and to protect the quality of life in North Charleston.
He did not mention the $3 million to $5 million the city is set to pay CSX for rail upgrades on an alternative route around Park Circle.
Officials gave the project a four- to five-year timetable and said it would be financed primarily by federal grants and private investment, but also with county and city funds.
Some in attendance raised concerns about the project’s impact on residents.
Helen Wiley, who lives on Bennett Yard Road near CSX’s current intermodal facility, said she deals with air pollution, structural damage to her house and “unbearable noise” from trains.
“They’ll have the same thing,” Wiley said of residents living near the Macalloy yard on the town’s south end.
Fredrik J. Eliason, CSX’s vice president of emerging markets, talked with attendees one-on-one and said the new facility would be “state-of-the-art” and would implement noise and pollution reduction measures.
Town Council convened after the forum, at which time it unanimously accepted a first reading of the memorandum and voted to have a final reading Aug. 7.
Summey said he wanted residents to use the next 30 days to explore the agreement.
Reach Daniel Brock at 843-849-3144.
Print