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| | | CSX plans contruction on Virginia Avenue tunnel | | October 16, 2009 | | | | Voice Correspondent | | If a proposal to expand area freight rail capacity is approved, Capitol Hill residents will find life on Virginia Avenue dramatically affected by reconstruction of the train tunnel that runs beneath the busy corridor.
The $134.3 million proposal by CSX would add a second main track through the tunnel, which runs from 2nd to 11th streets SE. The addition of a higher roof would allow the passage of double-stacked freight trains through the two tunnel tracks.
CSX spokesperson Bob Sullivan said the project would take between two-and-a-half and three years, while a District Department of Transportation Department official made a slightly lower estimate.
"We anticipate that there would be some traffic impacts during the course of this project, which is probably going to last a couple of years," said agency spokesperson John Lisle.
He said the department is working on a traffic plan to mitigate the expected traffic disruption.
"We would be very concerned about making sure that [CSX] had a good traffic management plan in place and that we could minimize the traffic disruption as much as possible,” he said.
The Southeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commission (ANC 6B) is scheduled to be briefed on the project by officials at its Nov. 10 meeting.
“We are certainly concerned about the plan and will learn more about it at a briefing,” commission chair David Garrison wrote in an e-mail to the Voice.
Indeed, CSX spokesperson Sullivan said the company plans extensive community outreach.
“We expect to do more planning with [the Transportation Department] and other District agencies and will be reaching out to community groups to inform them directly of the project, to understand their concerns and seek to work together to alleviate those concerns,” he said in an e-mail to the Voice.
The Virginia Avenue project is a key part of a greater public-private initiative called the National Gateway, which seeks to improve efficiency and expand freight capacity in rail networks that link mid-Atlantic ports to Midwestern markets by improving tracks, equipment and facilities. CSX has said it would like the entire project to be completed by 2015 in time for the widening of the Panama Canal, which is expected to result in more freight traffic along the East Coast.
According to the National Gateway's Web site, trains of a single intermodal train -- one that can load up with cargo containers suitable for trains, ships and trucks -- can haul the cargo load of more than 280 trucks.
Lisle said the department supports CSX’s plan to expand freight capacity in the area.
"We recognize the regional and national potential benefits of this," he said. "What it boils down to [for the Transportation Department] is the impact on the streets."
The railroad company is seeking state and federal funds to help fund the tunnel project. It has offered to pay $33.3 million of the project -- 24.8 percent -- and has requested $24 million in Virginia state funds and $77 million in federal funds, according to the company's application for Virginia funding.
The overall National Gateway project is estimated to cost $842 million. Governors from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio have applied for $258 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery federal grant funds, according to a National Gateway news release. According the release, the project CSX believes the project will provide $6 in public benefits for every $1 it costs. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article | | | | Michael | Fri, Nov 06, 2009 04:39 PM EST |
| Bad idea, thinking locally instead of what this do for the country. I'm sure you opposed the building of the metro too because it was a bad idea.
More HAZMAT? When was the last time a train carrying HAZMAT caused a problem to your 'hood? I don't see trains flying off the tracks every hour. |
| | | | Michael | Mon, Oct 19, 2009 04:19 PM EDT |
| | In case anyone remembers this tunnel runs through and under Garfield Park. Expanding the tunnel will mean more shipments of hazmat through our community, along with disruption to our roads and sidewalks. Urge Rep. Norton and your local reps to oppose this bad idea. |
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