This is a petition against the PROPOSED HANOVER SITE for a CSX intermodal train freight station
Maryland Department of Transportation, and CSX officials presented four sites to be considered for an Intermodal Freight Transfer Station. This station is part of the CSX National Gateway project to enable double stack shipping containers on rail.
To accomplish this, 100-foot tall mobile electric cranes will be used to move containers to and from trucks and single stacked trains, to double stack the containers on the train cars headed for points south and west of Baltimore. According to MDOT and CSX, an intermodal site south of the Howard Street tunnel is necessary so single stacked trains can shuttle cargo containers to and from the Seagirt Port in Baltimore. This will be a 24/7 365 days a year opperation that would bring 300 trucks per day to this area and expect this number to grow to 600 trucks per day in 10 years or less. There are over 700 homes within a 1/2 mile of this location.
The impact to residents next to the existing railroad track will be significant and not likely to be fully mitigated by CSX.
We the undersigned are not in favor of a CSX intermodal site at Hanover Rd.
This is one of 4 sites along the Route 1 corridor being considered and this site has the most impact on existing homeowners, the environment and future development in Elkridge and Hanover Md.
During the last Greater Elkridge Community Assoc, meeting Mr. Dormsjo of MDOT and company laid out the four sites that the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) decided should be considered to move forward through the NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act) process. MDOT and CSX officials solicited input from residents after their review of the selected sites.
There was immediate concern by the group when the map of the Hanover Road site was presented. This site would be east of the railroad tracks, between Race Road fronting along Hanover Road. This site is currently surrounded by 400 residential homes to the West, and wetlands and to the North and East and as such, a watershed to the bay. In addition, within the next few years a TOD site within an eighth of a mile to the South, with 900 apartments and a proposed school site, will be built at Oxford Square off of Coca-Cola Drive. We are dismayed that the Hanover Road site moved past the Federal Railroad Administration and is a site to be considered for the NEPA process.
There are other sites on the list that would be a better fit and already have heavy train infrastructure in place. The Jessup site has the least impact on the surrounding community and environment and would require less fill and grading needed to lay new track.
Thank you for taking the time to review our letter and hearing our concerns.
