MINNEAPOLIS — Community officials have been caught off guard by Canadian Pacific plans to redevelop a portion of its Shoreham Yard facility, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports, with one city council member citing an “uneven relationship” between the city and railroad.
Some officials and area residents had hoped that the land formerly occupied by the Shoreham roundhouse could be used for redevelopment. But when the roundhouse was torn down earlier this year, the railroad said it would be used to expand its intermodal facility. [See “Former Soo Line Shoreham roundhouse, diesel shop being demolished,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 1, 2019.]
Approximately 12 acres will be used for containers and an additional track to load them, Canadian Pacific spokesman Andy Cummings said, along with an second entrance to the intermodal facility. He told the newspaper, “Shoreham has been a railroad facility for more than a century, and CP is performing this upgrade to meet the demands of the 21st century Upper Midwestern economy.”
Officials and neighbors are concerned the project will increase traffic and pollution, and will be an eyesore. One area resident, who described the project as “basically creating a massive parking lot for empty containers,” has created a petition asking the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board to review the project.
Paul: CP interchanges with CN at Cardigan Junction. The CN job stops at Northtown (BNSF), New Brighton (MNNR) and Cardigan (CP).
As someone familiar with this area, there are plenty of eysores in the form of old gas stations. But the biggest issue is the huge blind spot people who are otherwise environmentally focused have in regards to rail. Here in MPLS people will fight to change right of way into bike trails without realizing that the environmental benefits of rail are much bigger. Rail and industry are more important to society than a velodrome!
Besides, agreed that a collapsing roundhouse (however historic) is an eyesore and was an “attractive nuisance.” This is good news for CP, local jobs, and green transportation.
Those of you unfamiliar with the area there are only 2 ways into this facility one is a residential street Central Ave. which is not suited for heavy truck traffic. The other University Ave would require upgrades with stop lights and turn lanes not currently designed for such volume. The RR would have to take this up with the City and certainly pay for such upgrades since it only benefits their needs & not keeping the City up with their plans was probably not the brightest idea. This sight is also not conveniently located to a freeway as the BNSF intermodal facility is in St. Paul. Not saying I’m for/against it but probably not the best location.
“Some officials and area residents had hoped that the land formerly occupied by the Shoreham roundhouse could be used for redevelopment”
What did they want redevelopment to be?
Frequently, when developers want to build residential multifamily projects, the neighbors fight it claiming it will bring in too much traffic, Ditto if a shopping center is proposed.
This time they want residential traffic. Change is fearful.
It’s their ground. They can do what they want with it. But if there is some developer with deep pockets, this might be for naught. We all know, money talks!
OKAY GUYS and GIRLS I’m not in the least bit familiar with the site, never been near there or seen it on a map. Whatever it’s zoned industrial and it’s railroad property. Anyone buying a house in the neighborhood should have known conditions could change. If I lived next to a closed-down steel mill I should know that someone could buy the property and build a new steel mill.
There’s a commercial property in Waukesha Wisconsin accessible only by residential streets. Semis go down residential streets and foul up the intersection to the nearby main road. Yes it stinks. Too bad. Don’t buy a house there.
Funny that it was OK for CP/Soo to pay taxes on the land for 100 plus years, but now the locals think they have a right to it because they want it for something else. They will raise every conceivable objection to its use for anything else until they gain control on their terms.
Ed Burns that’s my recollection too (traffic signals for University Ave entrance into the Shoreham west entrance.
Also University Avenue going north from Shoreham is mostly a divided multilane road all the way north to the freeway. And River Road also exists parallel to the west is similar but also higher capacity and higher speed. But the closest/shortest E-W connector (St Anthony Pkwy – not an MN route) could be a bottleneck.
But going south or downtown by heading east or south out of Shoreham isn’t all that friendly to heavy truck traffic.
Finally, doesn’t CN interchange with CP at Shoreham? I’m not sure but I saw CN train depart that yard once, but it might’ve just been in transit from somewhere deeper inside the Twin Cities.
The neighbors should move, the railroad doesn’t need them
An added comment: Central Avenue NE is MN Highway 65 and University Avenue NE is MN 47, so MNDOT would get involved with each roadway. If my memory is correct University Avenue does have traffic signals at the entrance/ egress from the CP/SOO intermodal yard. That is across University Avenue from the BNSF Track Department HQ at Northtown.
Galen, Thanks for the informative comment as my first thoughts is along the lines of Charles. However, intermodal brings a new dimension to the discussion because the reach is just as much about roads as it is about tracks. Which reminds of the blues brothers signing everyone needs somebody to love. Looks like it isn’t going to happen here.
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As far as new location, I wouldn’t doubt that CP scouted places but trying to find the adequate parcel with great freeway access to accommodate intermodal trains and ramps is probably a huge daunting and much more expensive endeavor in itself. Fighting pushback in using your own property that is already a railyard is one thing. A new facility is something altogether
The residents should heed what Mr Fred Rogers sang: “Won’t you be my neighbour?”