Joliet, Ill., intermodal site shoots for the stars

February 14, 2001 Joliet's new CenterPoint Intermodal opened the week of August 2, a milestone for a project that will make Will County, Ill., a major port for consumer goods coming in and out of the Midwest, the Chicago Tribune reports.

"Nothing like this
exists in the world," said Neil Doyle, CenterPoint executive vice
president. "The significance both now and in the future really cements
Chicago and the Midwest as the freight capital of North America. It’s a real
boost for the area."

Trains carrying goods –
including clothing, sports equipment and electronics – from Texas, California
and the Pacific Rim along the Union Pacific railroad will be delivered to
CenterPoint, where trucks will transport them across the Midwest.

The $2-billion facility on
Joliet’s south side, combined with an expanding CenterPoint facility in nearby
Elwood, will be the largest inland port in the country, officials said. As the
largest construction project in Will County, it has created about 1,000
construction jobs. It also is expected to generate as many as 10,000 more jobs
over the next several years.

"At a time when we are
a shadow of our former self (financially), this is a good thing," said Jim
Haller, Joliet’s director of Community and Economic Development. The project
has infused $800,000 into the city’s coffers for building permit and connection
fees.

A third CenterPoint
facility is planned for Crete, Ill.

CenterPoint in Joliet is on
about 4,000 acres south of Laraway Road between Brandon and Patterson roads.
About 900 acres are completed on which Union Pacific has built its facility.
Other companies, such as Northfield-based chemical maker Stepan Co., plan to
build warehouses and distribution centers on the property, which is serviced by
BNSF.

In Elwood, which has been
operational for eight years, companies such as Bissell Homecare, Wal-Mart
Stores and paper- and pulpmaker Georgia-Pacific use the facility to move
products from train to truck to store. The Elwood site is about 80 percent
completed. About 90 giant train containers arrive at the facility each hour.

CenterPoint officials said
other companies looking to locate in Joliet would be announced in the next
several weeks.

"Just the number of
clients we already have looking at the facility is utterly amazing,"
Mullen said last week. "I think there will still be a low volume of trains
for a while and then we will ramp up over the next 30 to 40 days."

The Joliet facility
officially opened at 12:01 a.m. August 2 with the first train expected to
arrive from Long Beach, Calif., said Mark Davis, a spokesman for Union Pacific.
That train returned to Long Beach filled with goods.

"It will be kind of
like the opening of an airport," Davis said. "It will take time in
order to get all the processes and the train schedules moved to the new
facility."

Union Pacific has several
facilities in the Chicago area, including Dolton, Northlake and Rochelle, which
will continue to operate. The company will close its facility on Canal Street
in downtown Chicago because it’s small and antiquated, Davis said.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson,
D-Ill., said she remembers visiting the site in September when it was an empty
field.

"Now the facility is
bustling with cargo and people coming in and out," Halverson said.
"This is exciting and is bringing hope to a lot of families in my
district."