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Gary airport on track for moving tracks
Meeting next week critical, but big decisions remain
By Keith Benman -
[email protected], (219) 933-3326 | Posted: Saturday, March 6, 2010 12:05 am | (4) Comments
After nine years of negotiations, Gary/Chicago International Airport is closing in on a final agreement on moving Canadian National railroad tracks that block the expansion of its main runway, Airport Director Chris Curry said.
Airport officials will be meeting next week with Canadian National representatives at the airport and hopefully will iron out any last-minute details in the agreement, Curry said.
"We are hoping that sometime in March, we could have a full, binding agreement that will put an end to these discussions that have taken place since 2001," Curry told The Times Editorial Board at a meeting Thursday.
Hopes have risen before that a deal was near. Twice in the last two years the airport has signed preliminary memorandums of understandings with railroads on the project, but those were not followed by final agreements.
When the airport received a letter of intent for $57.8 million in FAA funding in January 2006, airport officials said they could have work on moving the tracks completed as early as 2008 and the runway expansion completed in 2010.
The deal the airport and railroad will work on next week is a slimmed-down version of a previous plan that would have included two other railroads. The slimmed-down plan has an estimated price tag of $30 million to $35 million.
The plan would clear the way for the $90 million extension of the east-west runway. But it would not clear the way for expanding the north-south runway, which is a project in the airport's long-term plan.
The airport's largest tenant and business, the Gary Jet Center, is pushing hard for the more expansive plan.
Owner Wil Davis said that plan is the one already approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and the one that would best serve the airport's long-term interests because it would clear the way for eventual expansion of the north-south runway.
"That's what we have to stay focused on and that's what we have to get done," Davis said.
The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority is expected to kick in a good portion of the funding for the project, so it also will have a role to play in which plan is selected. RDA Executive Director Bill Hanna has been involved in the airport's negotiations with CN.
In addition to CN, the more expansive plan includes work on tracks owned by CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. It has an estimated price tag of at least $45 million.
Curry said on Friday the airport continues to negotiate "simultaneously" on both plans, meeting as recently as last week with a CSX official.
The slimmed-down plan has its own set of complications. To implement it, the airport must buy or condemn the property of Summit Inc., which operates a scrap yard that stands in the way of the proposed rail route. Paying for that property could add to the plan's expense.
Also, the more expansive plan involving all three railroads would qualify for up to $27 million in FAA and other funds, while the slimmed-down plan would qualify for less.
"The first priority is to get one signed legal agreement," Curry said. "And priority two is to get two signed legal agreements."
That way, both the airport authority and the RDA can be presented with the options and make a decision, Curry said.
The airport also expects to be able to move forward soon on acquiring land owned by Gary Community School Corp., which it also needs to make way for the runway expansion, Curry said.
The airport also expects to take delivery this month of a $449,732 business and strategic plan being prepared by airport consultant Landrum & Brown.
"March for us could be a very, very good month," Curry said. "We have a lot coming together at once."
Recent developments in negotiations to move railroad tracks that block expansion of Gary/Chicago International Airport's main runway:
Jan. 16, 2006: Gary airport lands $57.8 million for runway expansion under Federal Aviation Administration letter of intent. Airport officials say EJ&E Railway Co. tracks blocking expansion of runway could be moved as early as 2008.
Sept. 26, 2007: Canadian National Railway Co. announces it has an agreement to buy EJ&E tracks running from Waukegan, Ill., to Kirk Yard in Gary. Track blocking expansion of Gary airport is last stretch before Kirk Yard.
April 24, 2008: U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., announces he has secured a deal between CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. that will clear the way for moving EJ&E tracks and expansion of main runway at Gary airport.
June 27, 2008: Preliminary memorandum of understanding reached between airport, CSX, Norfolk Southern, CN and EJ&E on moving tracks to make way for runway expansion. E. Hunter Harrison, then-CEO of CN, praises deal.
June 26, 2009: Airport and CN reach preliminary agreement on slimmed-down, less-expensive plan for moving railroad tracks. Agreement does not include CSX and Norfolk Southern.
Jan. 31, 2009: Canadian National closes on its $300 million purchase of EJ&E Railway Co.
Feb. 2010: Gary airport submits to CN a final draft of agreement to move EJ&E tracks to make way for runway expansion.
Source: Times archives
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