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.
