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Heartland project awaits study
A Norfolk Southern train emerges from the Hemphill Tunnel near Welch, W.Va. Work will begin on this tunnel this fall. In this case, workers will cut notches into the arch to allow square loads to pass through.
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PRICHARD -- Prichard residents may soon find out how the Heartland Corridor project will change things in their Wayne County town.
Prichard is the site of a proposed intermodal facility that will be part of the project, which involves improvements in railways between the Virginia coast and Columbus, Ohio, so that trains can carry more goods.
As part of the Heartland Corridor project, which officials hope to complete in 2010, tunnels will be raised so that trains can carry double-stacked containers. The public-private partnership -- between Norfolk-Southern and local, state a
| Click here for a look at the proposed route for the Heartland Corridor. |
The project is expected to help businesses transport goods more quickly and affordably, and provide hundreds or even thousands of jobs at the site of the intermodal facilities.
The West Virginia Port Authority has been waiting on the completion of an environmental impact study regarding Prichard. Last summer, it hosted a public meeting to talk with residents about their concerns with the project. About 100 residents attended and expressed worries about increased traffic on the rails and roadways in their town. Others were concerned about whether their land would need to be acquired to make room for the facility.
Bob Trocin, executive director of the Wayne County Economic Development Authority, hopes the environmental impact study will be released at the next meeting of the West Virginia Public Port Authority, scheduled for Aug. 6 in Charleston.
"Everybody is just waiting on what's going to happen next," Trocin said. "Until they start construction on that, people (in Prichard) are holding their breath. We're working with them about trying to (discuss their concerns)."
West Virginia Sen. Bob Plymale, D-Wayne, said last summer that Norfolk Southern has donated 78 acres to the port authority for the Prichard facility, and the port authority already has 20-plus acres. But it hasn't yet been determined if that amount of land will be sufficient for the intermodal facility, which would sit between the river and the train tracks.
The facility, Trocin said, is "going to create a lot of jobs and a lot of action around here."
A survey about the economic impact of the Heartland Corridor project on West Virginia indicated that it could create 700 to 1,000 new jobs near the Prichard facility and eventually bring about $12 million in annual savings for shippers into and out of West Virginia. Patrick Donovan, director of the Port Authority, said when the study was released that those are conservative numbers. The estimation only considers West Virginia, because West Virginia paid for the study. But parts of Kentucky and Ohio will benefit from the project as well, he said.
The economic impact of the facility in Prichard should spill into an egg shape around the Interstate 64 corridor, he said.
Along with that activity, wider roads have been marked as a necessity. Trocin said Wayne County was looking into expanding 8.1 miles of U.S. 52 to four lanes. That section would stretch from Kenova to about a mile past Prichard at Hammonds Bottom.
The estimated cost of that project is a whopping $260 million, Trocin said.
"Unless (federal highway funds) come through with a huge chunk of that, we have no chance," he said. "We have $5 million in the bank now. Five million of $260 million isn't much, but it's a start."
Right now, the Wayne County Economic Development Authority is waiting on the Prichard environmental impact study results, and for construction to begin on the intermodal facility before pursuing those funds.
Meanwhile, work already is under way to raise tunnels. Three of four tunnels are completed in Virginia, said Robin Chapman, a spokesman with Norfolk Southern. And work has begun on eight of 23 tunnels that will be raised in West Virginia.
"Those are generally in McDowell County" in a 12-mile stretch of rail, Chapman said.
In total, 28 tunnels will be raised, four in Virginia, 23 in West Virginia, and one in Kentucky.
"We anticipate starting on another nine tunnels, between Bluefield and Welch, in the fall," Chapman said.
So far, that construction is on schedule, he said.
