Polk County Rail Hub

The state has called it the "mother of all rail yards," the vital cog in a plan for Orlando commuter rail.

CSX Transportation calls it an "integrated logistics center," a statewide rail-to-truck distribution center unlike anything in the Southeast. Winter Haven calls it the city's economic future. -- Tampa Tribune

Construction of any portion of the Heartland Parkway is years away, if at all. Yet CSX wants to open its rail hub within the next three years. An increasing number of local governments in Polk say the project is moving too fast, with little thought being given to the regional impact of building a virtually industrial city in a largely rural, residential area. There are also the up to 1,150 projected daily truck trips on S.R. 60 and other highways and sharply increased train traffic through the heart of cities such as Lakeland. -- Tampa Tribune

As Tribune reporter Billy Townsend reports, CSX has envisioned a 1,250-acre complex in Winter Haven ever since officials began talking about the project 18 months ago. But because the state requires a multi-agency review for any project of 320 acres or more, the railroad decided to submit a "first phase" plan that would only cover 318 acres.

Nice try.

The railroad is not proposing to build a strip shopping center. It's proposing a major industrial complex that will send trains through the heart of Lakeland and Auburndale. It's expected to add 1,150 trucks to roads in Bartow, Lake Wales and Mulberry. Major improvements will be needed to handle the additional traffic on State Road 60, U.S. Highway 27 and U.S. Highway 98.