NS plans hub at former Bethlehem Steel site

February 14, 2001 As soon as early next year, the amount of freight rail traffic on the main line that runs through Pottstown, Pa., is likely to increase, the Mercury reports. Also likely to increase is the amount of tractor-trailer traffic in the vicinity of the former Bethlehem Steel plant off Industrial Highway and South Keim Street.

Both are due to plans now
being undertaken by Norfolk Southern, which owns the rail line and several rail
spurs in the former Bethlehem Steel property. The company plans to create a hub
for the transfer of bulk goods being brought in by rail.

Rudy Husband, a spokesman
for Norfolk Southern’s Pennsylvania office in Blue Bell, confirmed the project
and said it could be up and running "by early next year."

Two things make that
likely. First, there will be little or no construction required as the six
tracks that will be used to store the full freight cars already exist as part
of the former steel-yard complex. Second, federal law exempts the company from
having to go through any local land development or planning process, Husband
said.

He said the tracks would be
used to store rail cars loaded with bulk goods, "both solids and
liquids," which would then be transferred to trucks for local companies.
Freight in the cars could range from flour for a local bakery to chemicals for
local plants, Husband confirmed.

The trucks, Husband said,
"would predominantly be tractor-trailers."

The rail line that would
see the increase in traffic would be the "main line" that runs past
the former train station, along the north property line of the former Bethlehem
site, now known as the Pottstown Industrial Complex, and beneath the Moser
Avenue bridge.

The more southerly spur
that runs closer to the Schuylkill River and was once used to supply Occidental
Chemical will not be used as part of this project, Husband said.

Husband said no local jobs
would be directly created as a result of the company’s increased use of the
tracks; however, the increased economic activity in the region "will help
grow businesses in the region and could result in indirect job creation."

The increased use of
combining rail and truck transportation is part of a national trend for the
company, which moves freight throughout the eastern half of the country.

Norfolk Southern operates
about 21,000 miles of rail in 22 states and the District of Columbia and
recently completed a series of tunnel enlargement projects that will shorten
the routes for lines that can carry double-stacked cargo containers. Although
double-stacked rail cars won’t be coming to Pottstown – the Washington,
Franklin and Evans street bridges over the tracks are too low – intermodal
shipping, in which cargo is transferred to trucks only for local delivery, is
up nationally by 14.4 percent this year, according to the Association of
American Railroads.

The project came to light
locally when Borough Council President Stephen Toroney brought it up during a
discussion about a proposed moderate senior housing project at the former
Lincoln Underwear factory site at Industrial Highway and South Evans Street.
Toroney was responding to suggestions that the senior housing should be turned
down in favor of retail stores or hotels along the river.

Saying, "Why would we
try to require more stores along the river when we can’t fill the empty stores
on High Street?" Toroney then brought up the rail line project, saying it
might make the riverfront properties less attractive to such uses.

"It appears (the rail
project) is going to happen and they may start construction in the next month
or two," said Toroney. "This may open up the Bethlehem Steel site for
heavy manufacturing or light industry and that is the only part of town that is
zoned for that."

The single most important
economic imperative for Pottstown, Toroney said, "is sustainable jobs. The
jobs that can sustain a family. We need more jobs like that." He suggested
that such a facility might help to create them.

The borough’s economic development
plan identifies the former steel site as a prime location to encourage redevelopment.

Borough Manager Jason Bobst
said the borough is working to convince Norfolk Southern to have the majority
of the truck traffic enter the borough to reach this facility via Moser Road,
noting that an increase in truck traffic might also make the replacement of the
Keim Street bridge a higher priority for PennDOT if more trucks are using it.

"We’re already getting
calls from short-haul trucking companies," said Bobst who said with the
establishment of the new tracks will make Pottstown the main bulk freight
transfer hub between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.